


Seasonal Repercussions

by marysiak



Series: Harry Potter and the Midlife Crisis [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, M/M, Post-Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-08-29 22:42:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8508382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marysiak/pseuds/marysiak
Summary: How will Harry deal with Christmas now that he and Ginny are no longer living together? Will he and Draco reveal their relationship?





	1. Chapter 1

It was the 1st of December and they still had to sort out what they were going to do over the Christmas holidays. Harry had barely spoken to Ginny since his article in Witch Weekly, beyond letting her know his new address. He did miss her, for all their flaws as a couple they had been the best of friends. But space seemed like a good idea right now, to let her cool off a bit.

He liked his new place, not that he spent a great deal of time there. Draco had taken him to bed on the day of the Quidditch match and after that they had gone back to how things had been before their argument. Although there was a new awareness of each other, a slight cautiousness emotionally that hadn’t been there before. It wasn’t a bad thing, Harry didn’t think. He had learned from his marriage that it was dangerous to pay too little attention to how people were really feeling. He didn’t want to take Draco for granted, or to make assumptions about what they had. He wanted to get things right this time.

Despite that, he had let most of a month go by without dealing with anything other than decorating his new house the way he wanted it and having lots and lots of sex. Which was nice, and meant the house was nearly ready for the children if they did want to stay over, but he did have to sit down with Ginny and sort out how this was going to work.

“I was wondering,” he said to Draco over breakfast in his new kitchen, it was the weekend and Draco often stayed at his over the weekend. “Obviously you and Ginny shouldn’t be in the same room, possibly ever, but given what we know about the boys now, maybe I should see if Scorpius could spend a day or two of the holidays with Albus? Albus did want to invite him over originally.”

Draco pursed his lips in thought. “They could always spend a day or two at mine,” he suggested. “You know there’s plenty of room.”

“I’m not sure if Ginny would be up for Albus being away at yours as well as being away at mine, the winter holidays are barely a couple of weeks long. Mind you I don’t know if he’ll be staying at mine at all yet, but I’m hoping they will. I really need to sit down with Gin and see what she thinks. I’ve been putting it off.”

“Then do it, don’t just talk about it,” nagged Draco. “Send her an owl, here I’ll get you some paper.”

And he was off into Harry’s sitting room to find some.

Harry sighed, time to put on his grown up pants, he supposed. Fairly apt since he was sitting at the table in nothing but his boxers and an old t-shirt, eating bacon with his fingers.

Draco came back through with parchment, quill and ink.

Harry looked at him fondly and said, “I don’t know what you see in me.”

“Neither do I,” agreed Draco. “Wipe your hands before you get grease spots all over the paper.”

Harry wiped his hands on his t-shirt, it needed to go in the wash anyway.

Draco made an appalled sound and downed the rest of his tea.

“Don’t make that noise at me,” said Harry. “You’re still wearing your running gear and you stink.”

“I do,” agreed Draco. “Which is why I’m off to have a shower, at home, where there is actual water pressure and I don’t have to stand in a bath to have one.”

“But it’s such a beautiful bath,” said Harry, who was quite enamoured of his free standing 1920s bath tub, even if it was slippery as fuck to shower in. It was enormous and fit both of them nicely when used for it’s proper purpose.

Draco kissed him on the side of the head. “Write your letter, I’ll be back for lunch.”

Harry grabbed him by the ponytail before he could escape and kissed him properly before letting him apparate home.

–

Ginny had invited him over for dinner to talk about Christmas. It was the height of strangeness to step out of what was strictly speaking his own floo into his own front room after a month away. She had rearranged the furniture, and he nearly tripped over a side table that he wasn’t expecting.

“Ginny,” he called.

“I’m in the kitchen,” she hollered back. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

It was eerily familiar, as if he hadn’t left at all, just imagined the whole thing. He perched on the edge of the sofa, not quite comfortable, not quite wanting to be.

Ginny came upstairs, she was dressed for guests and he suddenly realised that was him, he was the guest. He stood up. He had tried to look half way decent himself, it seemed only polite.

They looked at each other.

“Is this weird?” said Ginny. “I think it’s weird.”

“It’s weird,” he agreed.

“Do you want some wine?” she asked, but continued before he could answer. “I want some wine.” She left again and came back up a minute later with a bottle of wine and two glasses. “Dinner’ll be ready in a half hour.”

She poured the wine and Harry sat down on the sofa.

“Right,” she said, taking a large gulp. “How do we do this then.”

“Um, well. I was hoping we could all spend Christmas Day together still,” Harry started hopefully.

“Okay,” she said, her voice level and practical. “My Mum’s been trying to persuade me to have Christmas Day at hers but I’ve been putting her off. I was thinking, maybe… maybe you could stay here on Christmas Eve. So that we’re all together in the morning. I mean they’re still kids really, they don’t care about the dinner bit so much as the present opening. And then we could have a Christmas lunch together, nothing too big, and I could take them to Mum’s after?”

Harry felt a lurch of relief as he realised this might just all work. “Sounds good, I could do that. Um… is it okay if I don’t get here until late, I kind of have plans for Christmas Eve. Well not set plans, but I’d hoped...” he trailed off, not wanting to bring up Draco in case it ruined the mood. He’d hoped they could exchange gifts on Christmas Eve somehow, if they could work around Scorpius being home.

But Ginny seemed to understand. “I don’t see why that’d be a problem, as long as you fully accept that Lily is going to wake you up at 6am no matter what time you went to bed.”

Harry smiled. “Wouldn’t be Christmas otherwise. Do you think… if they want to of course… that the kids could spend a few days at mine, maybe from the 27th to the 30th?”

“I suppose so, if you have beds to put them in?”

“It’ll be a little tight, but if it’s only for a couple of nights it should be fine?”

“I don’t mind as long as they don’t, you’ll have to ask them yourself though.”

Harry nodded. “I’ll write them and see. Oh and I wanted to suggest something,” And here went nothing, he was going to have to bring up Draco. “Albus had been going to ask if Scorpius and… his Dad could come over for Christmas. Obviously that’s not happening, but I thought maybe you could invite Scorpius to spend a couple of days over the holidays. Or Draco said he’d be happy to have the two of them at his, but I thought you’d prefer to keep Albus here.”

Ginny frowned. “There’s a lot going on without visitors too,” she said.

“I know, but the boys are so close and I suspect Albus could do with the moral support.”

Ginny nodded to herself, “I suppose so, might stop him moping too much over the holiday if he knows Scorpius will be over. Do you think New Years might work or will Draco want him home for that?”

“I’ll find out.”

–

In the end the children agreed to go stay with Harry for a few days between New Year and Christmas, even Albus, although Harry suspected Ginny had bribed him with the visit that Scorpius was making to Grimmauld Place for New Year.

The big question still hanging in the air was the one posed by Draco.

“I don’t keep secrets from my son,” he said flatly.

Harry paced about in front of the fireplace. “It’s not that I’m entirely against telling him, but he’ll tell Albus and I don’t want to talk to the kids about it before Christmas, they’re already dealing with the break up. I was thinking I could tell them I was seeing someone else before they go back to school, but once the holidays are mostly over.”

“So you don’t have to deal with them being angry at you,” pointed out Draco.

“No, so that they don’t have their Christmas ruined!”

“Have you told anyone, at all?”

“Where did this suddenly come from anyway?” said Harry, feeling picked on. “I thought you didn’t want people to know.”

“I didn’t want people to think I was responsible for your break up. And I’d quite happily be your dirty little secret,” said Draco with a smirk. “But not at the expense of my sons trust. I won’t sneak around behind his back, especially since you’re his best friends father.”

“His boyfriends father,” Harry reminded him glumly. “Albus will go ballistic.”

“Even more reason to come clean. Your kids are staying at yours before Scorpius goes to stay with them, why don’t you tell them there?”

“You don’t think Scorpius and Albus will be writing to each other before then? It was a letter a day over summer, which makes more sense now that I know they’re seeing each other.”

“If I ask him, Scorpius will wait to tell Albus. If he knows it’s only a few days. He listens to reason, unlike your lot.”

“Hey!”

“And besides, if I tell him then you don’t have to hide in your cow shed on your own until New Year’s Eve. You can’t come over for Christmas Eve if Scorpius doesn’t know we’re together.”

“My lovely yet bijoux house is not a cow shed.” Harry sighed. “What will you even tell him?” he asked, somewhat resigned. “Do you think he’ll … be okay with it?”

Draco held out a hand and Harry took it and let him pull him down to sit on the sofa.

“It’s been over two years since Astoria died,” said Draco. “Scorpius started hinting that maybe I should start dating ages ago. He worries about me being alone when he’s away at school, he wants me to be happy. He wants everyone to be happy, he got that from his Mother.” He smiled, but his eyes were sad.

Harry rubbed his thumb over the back of Draco’s hand. “The thing is,” he said quietly. “We haven’t actually discussed what we’re doing.”

“No,” said Draco. “I suppose we haven’t. You planning to dump me after all?” It was meant as a joke, but it fell a bit flat.

“I’m not going anywhere,” said Harry softly, threading a hand into Draco’s hair and kissing him.

They kissed for a bit before Draco pulled away. “Even if your kids pitch a fit?”

“If I stopped doing things every time Albus didn’t like them I’d be sat in a box in the dark, making no noise and pretending I’m not there. And I spent quite enough time doing that as a child.”

Draco made a face, he disliked references to Harry’s childhood with the Dursley’s because it made him feel guilty about all the assumptions he’d made about Harry when he was a child. And even though Harry could make light of it now, he knew he still had nightmares about those years. He’d have given a lot to punch Vernon Dursley right in the face, but the man had died over a decade ago of a heart attack.

“So you’ll come for dinner at mine on Christmas Eve then, and I’ll tell Scorpius before you get there.”

“Yes.”

“And you promise you’ll tell your kids before Scorpius comes over on New Years.”

“I promise.”

“Then let’s go upstairs and make the most of this evening before I have to go pick Scorpius up tomorrow.”

“Suddenly five days is seeming like a very long time,” said Harry, getting up off the sofa. “You realise we haven’t spent more than a day or two apart in a month.”

“You are very clingy,” Draco teased him, his expression droll. “Next you’ll be reminding me it’s our two month anniversary.”

“Is it?” said Harry, trying to remember the date of that first unexpected morning encounter.

Draco laughed. “Don’t strain yourself, I was only winding you up.”

“I can’t believe it’s been two months since I resigned,” Harry said thoughtfully as Draco pulled him up the stairs. “This has been a strange year.”

“When is Hermione going to admit that you’re not coming back?” asked Draco over his shoulder.

“Just after Christmas I think, no one pays much attention to the news then, too busy sleeping and eating leftovers.”

“You ought to see them, you haven’t seen them since you resigned. I thought you three were inseparable.”

Harry rubbed his face. “It’s difficult… the resignation, Ginny...”

“Excuses, Potter,” said Draco sternly.

“Are you sure it’s only been two months,” asked Harry. “You nag like it’s been two years.”

Draco tugged him up the last two steps to face him.

“Any more lip, young man,” he said sternly, “And I will put you over my knee.”

Harry found himself blushing. “That is both disturbing and kind of hot.”

“Oh really,” said Draco in a low drawl.

“No,” said Harry. “Don’t you even...”

But before he could finish Draco was hauling him into the bedroom. Harry broke free and a fierce struggle ensued as Draco tried to get him bent over his knee and Harry fought him off. It wasn’t long before both of them were laughing like idiots. Draco managed to get Harry in a headlock briefly, but Harry got a leg out from under him and they both tumbled to the floor, too out of breath to continue the fight.

“No spanking then,” wheezed Draco.

“Not a chance,” said Harry.

“Shame, it has a lot to recommend it.”

Harry looked over at him, “You’ve done it before?”

“A story for another time,” remarked Draco enigmatically. “Now, as punishment for forgetting our two month anniversary, I demand that you suck my cock.”

Harry grinned and rolled over to do just that.

–

As Harry had agreed with Ginny that she would pick the kids up from Kings Cross and he would take them back at the end of the holidays, he had a long five days of nothing much to do until it was Christmas Eve. Draco and he had joked about how much time they had been spending together, but it was harder than he had expected, even though he had left himself the loft still to work on to pass the time. It was the evenings that were the most difficult, he could always find something to do in the daytime, but in the evening he was used to curling up on the sofa with Draco after they’d eaten dinner together, and at night he still wasn’t at all used to sleeping alone.

So it was with both relief and a severe bout of nerves that December 24th finally rolled around. The attic was nearly finished, with new stairs, a floor, two beds, and a partition down the middle. He had left the soft furnishings for the 26th, intending to pop in to the sales in Leeds or Manchester to distract himself from any nerves about the children coming over. Chaos as they were, he kind of liked the anonymity of the Muggle Christmas sales. The children’s Christmas presents were all bought, wrapped, shrunk and in his bag, along with his gifts for Draco and Scorpius. And he was due at Draco’s door right now if he wasn’t to be late.

With a nervous straightening of his shirt he apparated to the front of Draco’s house.

–

“Is it someone I know?” asked Scorpius, approximately the twentieth in a line of very similar questions intended to finagle out of Draco the identity of his mysterious new boy/girlfriend. He was currently far more interested in figuring out who his father was dating than what he might be getting for Christmas tomorrow.

Not that Draco really knew why he hadn’t told Scorpius who it was up front. He’d told him yesterday at breakfast that they would have company for Christmas Eve and that it was someone Draco had been dating and that, yes, it was starting to get serious or he wouldn’t have invited them here to meet him. He thought maybe it was the excitement on Scorpius’ face that had made him hold back, his son loved surprises, unlike himself who had rapidly gone off them sometime around 5th year. Or it might have been the fact that Scorpius hadn’t come clean about Albus yet and he was torturing him a little in retribution. Or perhaps he was still a coward and hadn’t quite been able to come out with it in case Scorpius didn’t approve. Either way he’d find out shortly, Harry was due to arrive any minute.

“Yes, it’s someone you know,” he said patiently.

“It’s not one of my teachers is it?”

“No, it’s not.”

“Is it...”

“Enough, Scorpius. He’ll be here soon enough...”

“He! You said he, so it’s a man!”

Draco sighed, he’d managed to avoid giving anything away at all, but he was starting to feel a bit nervous himself and the questions were starting to drive him a little bit up the wall. Maybe he should just…

The door bell rang.

“He’s here!” hollered Scorpius and, with the enthusiasm of a five year old, hurled himself at the front door to answer it before Terence could.

Possibly he shouldn’t have let Scorpius get quite so overexcited… He heard the door open as he followed Scorpius at a more sedate pace. “Mr Potter?” said Scorpius in surprise. Then in a tone of realisation, “Mr Potter!”

Draco hurried down the hall to rescue Harry.

“Ah, hello Scorpius,” said Harry as Draco reached the door.

Draco placed his hand on his son’s shoulder to try and lever him away from the door so Harry could actually come in. Scorpius turned to him, his eyes ridiculously wide, “You’re dating Mr Potter?”

“Yes,” said Draco awkwardly.

Harry frowned at Draco from the door mouthing, “You didn’t tell him?”

“Let Harry in, Scorpius,” said Draco patiently, and Scorpius wordlessly moved aside.

They all headed for the front room in silence, Draco starting to seriously regret the idea of this being a fun surprise, but as they entered and Scorpius turned around to face them he finally said something. “This is brilliant!”

Draco suspected he looked just as startled as Harry at this outburst.

“Is it?” said Harry.

“Of course it is, I mean he could have been dating someone awful. Like that lady who keeps staring at his bottom in Flourish & Blotts, the one who pinches my cheek and calls me adorable while making eyes at him! Though… Albus is going to implode,” said Scorpius frowning, “But once he gets over that, yeah, utterly brilliant.” He squinted at Harry. “Is this why you broke up with Mrs Potter?”

“Scorpius!” cautioned Draco. “What did I say about questions.”

“Not to ask awkward ones, or too many, or personal ones,” counted Scorpius off. “But is it?”

“That is both awkward and personal and completely inappropriate,” retorted Draco.

“And almost certainly the first thing Albus is going to ask when I tell him,” said Harry, sitting down. “No, it’s not. Mrs Potter and I broke up for a lot of reasons, Scorpius, no marriage ends for only one reason. Especially not when you’ve been married as long as Ginny and I have. Does that answer your question?”

“I suppose,” said Scorpius. “When are you going to tell Albus?”

Draco sat down as well, next to Harry, and motioned for Scorpius to sit down too. “We wanted to talk to you about that, Harry hasn’t told his children yet because he wants to wait until after Christmas. I assured him that you would keep this to yourself until he has a chance to tell them.”

Scorpius thought about it. “When after Christmas?”

“Albus and the others are staying with me for a few days before New Years,” explained Harry. “I’m going to tell them then. I hope you understand, Scorpius, this will be harder for them. They’ve had to deal with a lot of changes in the past few months.”

“Okay,” said Scorpius. “I promise not to mention you when I write, then.”

“Thank you,” said Harry with relief.

“That’s okay, Mr Potter. My Father really likes you, you know. And I do too, even if Albus doesn’t.”

“Well that’s… nice to hear,” said Harry, not sure what he’d exactly done to meet with Scorpius’s approval. He supposed helping to rescue him from the past had probably given him a boost. Even Albus had liked him for nearly a whole three months after that.

“So how long have you been dating? Father wouldn’t tell me anything! He wouldn’t even say if you were a boy or a girl. Does Albus even know you like men? I knew…”

“Scorpius, slow down,” said Draco.

“Sorry,” said Scorpius, not looking sorry at all.

“No, he doesn’t… it never came up before, what with me being married to Mrs Potter,” admitted Harry.

“Golly,” said Scorpius.

“Yeah,” said Harry glumly, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

“Right, that’s enough,” said Draco, slinging an arm around Harry’s waist and squeezing him a little. “Terence!” Draco’s house elf popped into the room with silent efficiency. “How long until dinner?”

“Twenty minutes, Master Malfoy, sir,” the house elf replied with the odd little bob he did whenever speaking to Draco.

“Fetch the wine I left out and two glasses.”

“Can I...” started Scorpius.

“No, you cannot,” said Draco sternly. “You can go upstairs and occupy yourself until dinner, Harry needs a break, and so do I.”

Scorpius’s face fell noticeably. “But he only just got here!”

“It’s really fine,” said Harry. “He doesn’t have to go.”

Terence reappeared with the wine.

“I swear I won’t ask any more questions,” promised Scorpius. “I won’t even say anything at all. I’ll just sit here.”

Terence handed them both a glass of wine and Harry tried not to drink more than a normal mouthful, tempted as he was to down the lot.

“Fine,” relented Draco, sipping his own wine and leaning back into the sofa, pulling Harry back with him and in against his side.

Scorpius beamed at them in a way that Harry found really quite disconcerting.

Dinner was surprisingly nice after that, Scorpius appeared to be trying very hard to be on his best behaviour, which meant he was a lot quieter than Harry was used to him being. He didn’t want Scorpius to have to change around him, but for this evening he wasn’t really up to any more complicated questions about how Draco and he had got together. And the food at Draco’s was, as always, excellent. Terence was an unusually reticent house elf, but an excellent cook.

“I thought perhaps, since I won’t be here tomorrow morning, you two might like your Christmas presents this evening?” said Harry, as they finished desert.

Scorpius’s face lit up and then instantly dropped again, “I didn’t get you anything!” he said woefully.

Harry smiled, “I wasn’t expecting you to. After all, until you opened the door you didn’t even know who was coming to dinner.” He eyed Draco pointedly, they would be discussing that later.

“We can open one present each before you go to bed,” said Draco, ignoring the comment.

Scorpius grinned and shovelled down the last of his pudding. As they headed through to the sitting room his mind was clearly still on food, “Are you looking forward to Christmas dinner, Mr Potter? Albus makes his grandmother’s Christmas dinner sound better than Hogwarts.”

For a skinny kid, Scorpius could put away an impressive amount of food. Harry supposed he was still growing. “Molly’s Christmas dinner is always excellent,” replied Harry sitting down on the sofa with a slight oof and reaching for his satchel. “But I’m not going with them to the Burrow tomorrow, I’m just spending the morning and then they’ll go on to the Burrow without me after lunch.”

“So where are you having Christmas dinner?” asked Scorpius, sitting down on the carpet near the tree.

“Well, at home I suppose,” he fished out the two shrunken parcels that were for Draco and Scorpius.

“On your own?” Scorpius seemed entirely distracted from the potential for presents.

“Um… yes.”

Scorpius turned his horrified expression on Draco. “Father.”

“I’ll be fine, I don’t mind,” said Harry hastily.

“But he can come here, can’t he?” said Scorpius with determination.

Draco looked at Harry from where he was standing by the fireplace, his brow slightly raised in query.

“I wouldn’t want to intrude,” Harry said politely.

“But you’re practically family now,” claimed Scorpius. “Isn’t he?”

“If you would like him to come back tomorrow, then it’s entirely up to Harry,” said Draco, his face at it’s most inscrutable, as it often was whenever Harry really felt he needed a clue as to what Draco was feeling. “I have no objections. Harry? You’re more than welcome.”

But it was Scorpius Harry addressed. “Are you certain, Scorpius? I’ll be perfectly all right on my own, I wouldn’t want you to spoil your Christmas out of any obligation.”

“I want you to come,” said Scorpius, with a mulish expression that Harry suspected he’d learnt from Albus. Although it was rather surprising to come across it in the context of his presence being demanded, rather than his absence.

“Well, then… I’d be delighted.” And he was, both by Scorpius’ willingness to have him there and that he wouldn’t be spending a large part of Christmas Day alone. He had been ignoring it, but dreading it at the same time. Especially given the likelihood that the morning at Grimmauld Place would be awkward and perhaps even slightly unpleasant if the emotional weather was against him. Scorpius beamed that unsettlingly eager grin at him. “In which case perhaps I should just put these under the tree and we can open them tomorrow.” He waved his wand over the two packages and unshrank them.

Scorpius tried not to look disappointed and Draco laughed at his expression. “You walked into that, Scorpius.”

Harry put the parcels under the tree and Scorpius gazed after them in longing. “But it is practically Christmas already,” he said hopefully.

“No,” said Draco. “Harry is quite right, if he’s joining us tomorrow afternoon we can wait until then to open his presents.” He sat down on the sofa with Harry.

“But Christmas isn’t even really a wizarding holiday, that’s Yule, and that was days ago,” said Scorpius, trying another tack as he edged towards Draco’s tasteful silver and green tree almost unconsciously.

“And since when have we celebrated Yule instead of Christmas?” said Draco.

“Never,” admitted Scorpius, studying the various parcels lit by the magically sustained but beautifully real candles perched on the evergreen branches. “Well except that one year with Grandma and Grandpa.”

Draco frowned, “Don’t remind me. I’m surprised you even remember, you were what… five?”

“Six,” replied Scorpius.

Harry looked at Draco, curious.

Draco shook his head at him, “You don’t want to know, there’s a reason I don’t spend Christmas with my parents. Astoria thought we should give them a second chance… one which they failed in spectacular fashion.”

“Grandpa didn’t like Mum very much,” said Scorpius. “We’re going there on the 27th for dinner, though.”

Draco sighed. “For my sins.”

Harry put a hand on his leg in sympathy. Lucius Malfoy had spent another seven years in Azkaban after the war and largely disappeared on his release. He knew that Draco’s parents still lived at Malfoy Manor, but despite the assistance Narcissa Malfoy had given Harry on that last and terrible day, the Malfoy’s name had been thoroughly ruined by their association with Voldemort and they were virtually never seen or heard from. Harry had seen that Draco and his Mother served no time, but he had no inclination at the time to help them unblacken their reputation. Especially since Draco had told him in no uncertain terms, shortly after his trial and acquittal, to fuck off and die if he expected any thanks from him. Harry remembered the day vividly, he had been furious at the time, close to hexing him into St Mungo’s if Hermione hadn’t dragged him away. It had been the day he gave Draco his wand back. It made him smile now.

“What are you grinning about,” Draco asked softly, his hand curling around Harry’s. “Glad my Father’s still torturing me after all these years?”

Harry pulled himself out of reminiscence, shaking his head. “No, no. I was just remembering the day I gave you your wand back. Do you remember?”

Draco looked surprised. “Didn’t I call you an arrogant self righteous prick?”

“Something like that,” said Harry, amused. “You were such an arsehole.”

Draco felt an unexpected wave of guilt, he had been particularly out of order that day given that Harry had saved his life twice and then kept him and his Mother out of prison on top of that. He’d also been sightly drunk if he remembered correctly, it had been only a few days after he’d been released and the start of his not terribly gradual slide into debauchery. “Yeah… sorry.”

Harry laughed. “Forgiven.” He caught Draco’s hand in his chin and kissed him, quite forgetting they were not alone.

Draco had apparently forgotten too as he responded and they remained quite caught up in the moment until Scorpius cleared his throat.

They sprang apart immediately.

“Ah,” said Draco.

“Um,” said Harry.

“It’s okay,” said Scorpius, although he looked a bit embarrassed. “I mean you are dating after all.” He had been looking at his feet, but he glanced up at them. “Anyway, if we’re not going to open presents then I might go upstairs and do homework or something. Get an early night, Father Christmas likes that I hear.” He stood up.

“Remember not to say anything to Albus,” reminded Draco, fairly certain that by homework Scorpius actually meant writing to his not-so-secret secret boyfriend.

“Of course not,” said Scorpius. “Good night, Mr Potter. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good night, Scorpius,” said Harry.

“No earlier than seven tomorrow morning,” warned Draco. “If you wake up before then, you’ll just have to wait.”

“You wake up earlier than I do!”

“Good night, Scorpius.”

Scorpius smiled, “Night.” And then he was gone, closing the door behind him.

Draco leaned back into the sofa again with an audible sigh.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell him,” was the first thing out of Harry’s mouth. He’d been holding the complaint in all evening.

“I was going to,” said Draco. “I just… I genuinely have no honest answer for why I didn’t. It just happened. It seemed fun, he was enjoying the mystery… but yes, probably given the circumstances it wasn’t my smartest idea. It all worked out all right though.” He looked at Harry with half a smile. “He thinks it’s ‘brilliant’.”

“It amazes me how well he and Albus get along, they’re so different.”

Draco lifted one shoulder lazily. “They both always felt left out, a bit odd. It meant they understood each other, had that in common straight away. Scorpius is so warm and eager to please… nothing like me really. He takes after his Mother with that. He found it hard growing up alone with just the three of us, and harder still once she was gone. I’m better than I was, much better, but at first I didn’t know how to give him what he wanted.”

“Affection,” said Harry, thinking of the way Scorpius seemed to thrive on the warmth of company.

Draco nodded. “I was never comfortable being physically affectionate with him, my Father never was with me. I didn’t want to be like him, but some things are hard to get past when it’s what you’re used to. What feels normal to you.”

“I always found that easy, don’t know why,” said Harry thoughtfully. “It’s not like I learned it at home…. Maybe because I always imagined my Mum and Dad would have been. I had such a strong idea of what they would be like in my head and I think I copied that. And then there were people like that in my life… Ginny’s Mum, her brothers, Hagrid… even Sirius was a hugger for all that he wasn’t… around long.”

Draco pulled Harry in against him and they rearranged themselves on the sofa so that Harry was sprawled between Draco’s long legs, lying over his chest, Draco’s fingers playing with his hair.

“Funny how our families are tangled up,” said Draco.

“Hmm?” said Harry, comfortable and warm.

“Sirius Black was my second cousin. If he hadn’t left everything to you, as his godson, it would have gone to me via my Mother as his closest male descendent.”

“So you’re only after my fortune,” teased Harry.

“You have learned my terrible secret,” agreed Draco. “I will marry you as soon as your divorce is through and then push you down the stairs to claim my rightful inheritance.”

“Afraid I’ve already spent it all. And the children are getting the House. And you’ve already seen the crap that’s in the attic, so you’re bang out of luck.”

“Oh well,” said Draco. “At least the sex is good.”

“Mmm,” agreed Harry, breathing in the scent that rose from Draco’s body, familiar and immediately arousing. It had been a very long five days. “Do you think...”

Draco let his fingers trail down the back of Harry’s neck. “I think there is every chance that Scorpius will suddenly think of something he absolutely has to say and come bursting back in here. So, no.”

“We could lock the door,” suggested Harry, looking up at Draco hopefully.

Draco looked at him and Harry could see he was tempted. He reached over to the table and lifted up his wand, but instead of casting Colloportus, Harry felt the unexpected squeeze of Apparition and a millisecond later they had arrived somewhere soft and dark. A swish of movement and the candles in Draco’s bedroom lit up.

“He won’t try and come in here,” said Draco, but he cast Colloportus on the door anyway. “And the sound proofing is better.” His lazy smile was positively sinful and it set Harry’s heart thudding. “Missed me, did you?”

Harry displayed a singular lack of grace, but a great deal of enthusiasm, as he set to demonstrating just how much.


	2. Chapter 2

It was after midnight by the time Harry Floo’d to 12 Grimmauld Place, and the living room was lit only by the flickering lights of fairies on the Christmas tree and the fireplace itself. But the room was not empty, his eldest son James was sitting lengthwise on the sofa with a beer.

Harry straightened up from stepping out of the grate, and brushed soot out of his hair.

“Wotcher, Dad,” said James lazily. “I told Mum I’d wait up for you, so she could go to bed.”

“Thanks. Merry Christmas,” said Harry, hoping he didn’t look quite as well shagged as he felt. He had been expecting Ginny, or no-one. Not one of his children. Although James was seventeen now, hardly a child.

“Yeah,” said James, “Merry Christmas. Mum said you’d be late but she didn’t say why, out carousing?”

“Just… dinner at an old friends,” replied Harry, trying to sound casual. He went over to the tree, it was already laden with gifts. He took out his own and began to enlarge them and arrange them underneath.

“Been a bit odd,” said James. “Getting everything ready without you here, although not as odd as I expected.”

“Oh?” said Harry.

“Well, you were always away doing work stuff, so it’s not like we’re used to you being here all the time.”

“Right… sorry,” said Harry.

“I didn’t mean...” James broke off, sounding a bit frustrated. “It wasn’t a criticism, just a comment.”

“Sorry,” said Harry again. “It’s all a bit...”

“Odd,” finished James.

“Yes.”

“I keep trying to figure out if it’s really going to be different, if I ought to be upset...”

“Are you?”

“Upset?” James asked.

Harry nodded. “You’ve been very good about everything, you don’t have to pretend it’s okay if it’s not.”

“I’m not pretending,” said James. “I don’t think.” He thought for a moment. “I get upset sometimes, for a little while, and then it passes again. I think I’m more upset by the idea of what’s happening than by what’s actually happening. Everything’s changing for me just now anyway, it’s just one more thing in a whole bunch of stuff.” He smiled, “I used to find it weird that you and Mum had been together so long...”

“Really?” Harry sat down and accepted the beer James was offering him.

“That sounds weird, right? But I… ah, I’ve gone through my fair share of girls over the years.”

“It has been noticed,” said Harry with a wry grin.

“I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to settle down when there were so many hot girls out there,” James mused, clearly reliving past conquests.

“But you do now?”

“There haven’t been so many girls this year…” he admitted, “actually there’s only been one.”

Harry sat up a bit. “Does she have a name?”

James looked a bit embarrassed. “Emily,” he replied. “I’m spending New Years at her place.”

“With her parents?”

“Yeah,” said James.

“Sounds serious.”

“Yeah,” said James. “I guess it does.”

There was silence for a bit as Harry wondered if he should try and get some more information about Emily.

“Do you think we’re too young,” James said suddenly. “For it to be serious?”

Harry considered his response. “I think every relationship is different,” he said. “Your grandparents got together at school and they’ve been very happy together all these years.”

“But you and Mum weren’t happy.”

“That’s not true, your Mother and I had a lot of happy years.”

“But do you think you should have not got married?” insisted James. “I mean ignoring us kids, if you didn’t consider that, do you think you should have split up back then and seen other people, married other people?”

Harry took a swig of his beer, trying to think of the right thing to say. “I honestly don’t know, James. You can’t know what might have happened. If we’d split up, married other people, maybe those relationships would have broken up too, maybe they’d have broken up sooner. Or maybe they wouldn’t have, what ifs never really answer anything because you just can’t know.”

“Mum was your first girlfriend wasn’t she?” said James.

“Yes, my first proper girlfriend,” agreed Harry. “I went on a couple of dates with someone in my fifth year, but it never came to anything.” Harry tried to imagine marrying Cho Chang instead of Ginny, but he just couldn’t, he and Cho would never have worked out.

“I guess we were a lot different at school.”

“We were, I think maybe you’re a bit more like my father than like me,” mused Harry. “Not that I knew him, but I like to think that maybe you are. Your childhood was a lot more like his than it was like mine.”

“Hope I’m not too like him, don’t fancy dying young,” James quipped, then realised his mistake before he even saw Harry’s face. “Sorry, that was an awful thing to say, sorry.”

Harry bit his lip, his parents were a delicate topic since the events earlier this year. But James hadn’t meant to upset him. “It’s all right.”

They drank in silence for a bit, watching the low flames light up the three Christmas stockings, which Ginny had already filled up with sweets and trinkets.

“As to Emily,” said Harry. “I can’t tell you if you’re too young to be serious, only the two of you can answer that. Is she the same age as you?”

“She’s in sixth year,” said James. “I ran out of people in my own year who weren’t rank. So I asked her out for a laugh. I just thought I’d… well… let’s say my intentions weren’t exactly honourable at the time.”

Harry shook his head in silent disapproval, but James was looking at the fire.

“That’s why I’m worried about whether we’re getting too serious. I mean I’ll be leaving Hogwarts this summer and she’ll still have another year to go, so we won’t be able to see much of each other when that happens.”

Harry had never known James to willingly look that far ahead, it sounded like it really was serious if he was already worrying about the consequences of a long distance relationship. Or maybe he was just growing up. There was something about turning 17 in the wizarding world that seemed to make people start thinking like adults. For all that he’d had to grow up too fast in some ways, it hadn’t been till he was 17 that he thought he’d really started behaving like an adult.

“I think you shouldn’t worry too much about it just yet,” he said. “Although I hope you’re not letting things get in the way of studying for your NEWTs.”

“Nah, Emily’s a stickler for that. Don’t know how she didn’t end up in Ravenclaw. I’ll probably ace my exams the amount of studying she has me doing.”

Harry smiled. “Sounds like she’s a good influence. And here I was worried you were showing your bottom off to the whole school.”

James snorted. “Oh I was, can’t behave all the time. I streaked through the Great Hall at dinnertime the day your arse was spread all over Witch Weekly. Got a weeks detention and a Howler from Mum. Totally worth it.”

“I… did not hear about that one.”

“Emily has a sense of humour about that stuff, I don’t think we’d work if she didn’t.” James glanced at the tree and changed the topic. “That’s a very broom shaped package I see.”

“Maybe I wrapped something else in a broom shaped box,” Harry hedged.

“Lily will be pleased. She’ll also be up at six I expect, so we should get to bed. You’re in the first floor bedroom. Try and keep her away from my room until at least 8am will you?”

“I’ll try. But I can’t promise anything,” said Harry, getting up. “Goodnight, James.”

“Night, Dad.” James stood up too. “I’m glad you’re here for Christmas, even if it is just for a bit.”

“I’m glad too.”

–

Lily woke him up at 7am on the dot with a surprisingly meek disposition.

“Daddy,” she said softly, prodding his shoulder. “It’s seven, is that okay? I brought you coffee.”

“Lily,” he muttered, pulling himself out of sleep and rubbing at his scratchy eyes.

She was peering at him hopefully, but nervously. Which was so unlike her it made his heart lurch. He sat up, despite the protest of most of his body, and took the offered mug.

“Of course it’s all right,” he told her. “Is anyone else up yet?”

She shook her head. “I know everyone doesn’t get up as early as me, so I waited.”

“That was very nice of you, Lily-bear.” He sipped at his coffee, there was a bit too much sugar, but he wasn’t going to be an ass and point it out.

“I looked at the presents, but I didn’t touch them, promise,” she said.

Harry smiled and tried to figure out how to explain that she didn’t have to be extra good for him, but he wasn’t sure he could phrase it right. He didn’t want her to feel like she’d done anything wrong, when she hadn’t. He supposed he’d just have to try and show her that it was okay to just behave like normal and hope she understood. This was certainly the first time he’d ever been disappointed not to be woken up at 6am with a knee to the stomach, or on one particularly memorable occasion, to the groin.

“Why don’t you go on downstairs and I’ll meet you in the kitchen in ten minutes?” he suggested. “We can have some breakfast before we wake the others up.”

“We can’t wake them up now?” asked Lily hopefully.

“Let’s give them at least until eight,” said Harry. “They’ll be less grumpy that way.”

Lily pouted as she agreed, then disappeared back out the door.

Harry got dressed slowly, drinking his coffee, and contemplating what he wanted to make for breakfast. French toast, he thought, with jam and bacon. That ought to fill an hour very nicely. When he got downstairs, Lily was in the living room gazing mesmerised at the tree and presents.

“Come on,” he said, “No point torturing yourself in here, let’s go and make french toast.”

“Yum!” said Lily with enthusiasm.

At ten to eight, Ginny wandered into the kitchen in her dressing gown looking rumpled, but pretty. “The boys still asleep?” she asked.

“Yes,” said Lily, “Daddy wouldn’t let me wake them up.”

“Coffee?” asked Harry.

“No thanks, I’ll make some tea,” said Ginny. “You can wake them up once I’ve had a cuppa,” she told Lily. “But you need to let them eat something if they want to, before we open the presents.”

“If they got up early like me they could’ve already eaten,” muttered Lily.

“You didn’t have to do all that,” said Ginny, noticing the pile of French toast and bacon on the side, under a stasis charm.

Harry shrugged, “I was up and I was hungry, may as well do enough for everyone. Afraid we finished the green-gage jam though, there’s only raspberry left.”

Ginny shrugged and helped herself to some food, “You’re the one who always wanted it, I think that jar’s been there since you left.”

The reminder stung, though he didn’t know why. As if he wasn’t already well aware of things from waking up in the spare room.

James got up amiably enough, and only ate one slice of toast although Harry knew he’d have happily demolished half a dozen, so that Lily didn’t have to wait too long.

Albus claimed he didn’t like French toast and wasn’t in the mood for bacon, even though Harry knew perfectly well he did and he always was, and proceeded to delay everyone by making himself un-French toast and two boiled eggs and eating them as slowly as possible until Lily was a whisker away from hexing him. James exchanged a knowing look with his father and took the opportunity to eat several more slices of French toast with bacon and some maple syrup he’d found in the back of the cupboard.

Ginny shook her head and went back upstairs to change out of her pyjamas, for which Harry was thankful. He’d always had a thing for people looking sleepy and rumpled and seeing Ginny that way again was more than a little confusing.

He finished his third cup of coffee and then regretted it, Lily had made the pot extremely strong and he hadn’t been drinking as much lately, what with not having to go to work. Three strong cups plus Albus and his mood pushed him just over the edge into nervous jitters. He left the kitchen and went into the living room to try and relax.

Lily followed him, complaining as soon as she was out of earshot, “Al is going slow on purpose!”

“I know,” he agreed.

“He’s stupid,” she stormed. “He wants to open his presents just as much as I do.”

“Lily-bear, I have never met anyone who wanted to open presents as much as you do.” Which made him think of Scorpius, and wonder if perhaps he had.

“I hope you got him something awful,” she continued.

“Godric, I hope not,” muttered Harry, not feeling at all confident in his present buying skills when it came to Albus, and fairly certain he’d pretend to hate anything Harry had bought even if he did actually like it.

“Can’t I just open mine now,” Lily wheedled. “Everyone knows what is is anyway.”

“No, wait for your Mother to come down.”

James came in, munching on a last piece of bacon. He wiped his fingers on his t-shirt. Harry refrained from commenting, James had inherited that habit from him after all. “Can I start sorting them?” he asked. “I bet Al will move his arse fast enough if we start without him.”

“Wait for...”

“...your Mother,” finished Ginny. “Go on then.”

James dived for the tree, as eldest child it was traditionally his role to oversee putting the presents into piles for each person. He started with the broom and Lily began to vibrate on the spot with the effort of not opening it.

“Al,” Ginny yelled down the stairs. “Hurry up or Lily will open all your presents.”

“Don’t. Want. Al’s. Stupid. Presents.” said Lily bouncing up and down.

Al appeared at the door and cased the room before sitting in a corner where Harry couldn’t even see him without craning his neck.

They let Lily go first and she ripped the paper off the broom and then tried to mount it right there in the front room. Harry grabbed it out from under her as James restrained her from going after it.

“Not in the house,” shrieked Ginny, half laughing.

“Then can I take it to the garden?”

“The garden is too small to fly in,” said Ginny. “You’ll just have to wait until we get to Grandma’s.”

“Nooooooo,” Lily moaned, stroking the broom. “But Daddy can’t see me fly it at Grandma’s and he bought it!”

“I’m sure I’ll get a chance to see you fly it soon enough,” Harry said reassuringly, although he couldn’t imagine when that might be. There was nowhere to fly a broom at his place either.

“Sit down,” said James. “We want to open our presents too.”

Lily slumped down next to her remaining pile of presents, and Harry placed her new broom on the side board, well out of arms reach.

“My turn,” said James, and also picked up Harry’s gift. A suit from Selfridge’s in London that hadn’t cost as much as Lily’s broom, but had cost considerably more than Harry had ever spent on clothes before. “Wow!” said James, and Harry let out a silent breath of relief.

Draco had assured him that James would love it, Harry had never been very good with clothes. But as Draco only ever wore black or sometimes dark grey, Harry hadn’t been entirely convinced at his claims to know everything there was to know about wizarding fashion.

“Thanks, Dad. I can wear this for New Years!” James realised, a wide grin on his face at the thought of impressing Emily.

Albus, of course, had stuffed Harry’s gift to the bottom of his pile and opened something else at random that turned out to be a book and a box of sweets from Hermione and Ron respectively. Harry had put his foot down on the no sugar thing shortly after returning from the past, and only Ginny was still vaguely sticking to it. After what they’d been through, he’d very much felt that chocolate was in order, and lots of it.

And so the present opening continued, taking turns around the room, with Harry and Ginny running out of gifts well before the children, as usual. His pile had been considerably smaller than previous years. Mr and Mrs Weasley hadn’t sent a gift, nor had Charlie. And several of his other gifts had been rather smaller and more impersonal than usual. George had sent him a pair of high waisted, knee length undergarments with a note that said, ‘For future photo opportunities’. Albus had given him two Muggle books entitled ‘The Ladybird Book of the Mid-Life Crisis’ and another Ladybird book called ‘How it Works: The Husband’. The last gift Harry opened was from Ginny, under the wrapping was a dark brown lambswool cardigan with light blue H’s on the two pockets.

“I figured since you weren’t coming to Mum’s...” she said softly. “Didn’t knit it myself though.” Mrs Weasleys knitted monogrammed gifts had become a staple Christmas tradition over the years and Harry was touched at the thoughtfulness. She knew how much his relationship with her family had meant to Harry over the years.

“Thank you,” he said, trying not to look as if he was trying to hold back tears, even though he was. Family traditions meant the world to him, never having had any as a child.

“If you start crying, I will take the piss,” said James, purposefully trying to break the moment.

Harry gave him a look and put the cardigan on, even though it was far too warm for it. “This is perfect, my new place gets a bit drafty in the evening.”

“It’s just an old man cardigan,” huffed Albus.

“Well, I’m an old man, so that works out nicely,” retorted Harry.

“I think it looks lovely,” said Lily, stubborn in her loyalty. “And you’re not old, Daddy.”

Albus opened his gift from Harry next so he could further rain on his Fathers parade by pretending it was stupid and boring. Which took some doing as Harry had bought him tickets to see his favourite band when they played London over the Easter holidays and finagled a pair of backstage passes too. Tickets he knew were harder to get than dragons teeth and had sold out months ago. “Don’t really like them that much anymore, but I suppose I’ll have to go anyway,” Albus claimed, tucking them into his shirt pocket as if they were made of glass.

James smirked at him knowingly.

“I thought maybe you could take Scorpius,” Harry said, trying not to sound smug.

Albus glared at him silently.

Eventually all the presents were opened, and the living room cleared of the mounds of ribbons and wrapping paper. Lily had persuaded them to let her fly slow circles around the garden to test out her broom. Albus had disappeared off to his room to either sulk or write to Scorpius about the concert tickets he was pretending he didn’t care about. James was lying on the sofa eating sweets and drinking Butterbeer and listening to the run up to the Charity Christmas Gala Match between the Falcons, who were currently top of the league, and a team made up of famous retired players and celebrities. Every year they asked Harry to play, and every year he said no, preferring to spend Christmas with his family. Maybe next year he might say yes, he had always been tempted, though slightly worried that he might not be up to it any more.

He came back in from watching Lily in the garden, his cardigan wrapped tightly around him and his hands stuck in his armpits. It was a typical London winter, as icy cold as it could be swelteringly hot in the summer. No snow though, he wondered if there would be any out in Cornwall.

Ginny was in the kitchen buttering bread, and pulling out cheeses and cold meats for lunch.

“James hasn’t stopped eating since he got up,” Harry said, helping her bring out pickles and other bits and pieces.

“You were the same at his age,” Ginny remarked. “And Ron was worse.”

“Suppose so,” said Harry. “Can’t get away with it any more, though.” He patted his belly.

“You’ve lost weight,” said Ginny.

“Yeah, been exercising more.”

“Hmm.”

Harry grabbed a fistful of cutlery and deposited it on the table.

“Sorry about Albus, I’d tell him off but it never helps.”

“I know,” said Harry. “It’s what I expected.”

“He loves the tickets.”

Harry smiled. “Watching him try to pretend he didn’t was quite funny, I thought he was going to pull a muscle. Made putting up with his huff almost worth it.”

Ginny laughed. “The boys both take after you more than you think, I remember you being a nightmare when you were fifteen.”

“It wasn’t my best year,” agreed Harry.

“I hope you’re not going to spoil them like this every year. I mean I get it this year, it’s fine. But I don’t want Christmas to turn into some sort of crazy who can buy the kids the best gifts thing.”

“I’ll restrain myself next year,” said Harry. “Promise.”

She paused. “Will you be all right today, I know Christmas always meant a lot to you.”

“I’ll be fine,” Harry reassured her. “Actually… I’m having dinner with Draco and Scorpius.”

Ginny dropped the knife she had just picked up and had to jump out of the way to stop it hitting her foot. “Shit!”

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have...”

“No! No I was just surprised. I didn’t think Scorpius knew…”

“Draco told him just before Christmas. I was planning to tell our lot when they’re over at mine. I can’t leave it any longer now that Scorpius knows.”

Ginny sat down and started making herself a sandwich, her brow furrowed. “It’s serious then, not just...” she trailed off.

“It was always serious… to me anyway. I wouldn’t have… I mean, not just for, for laughs or something.”

Ginny nodded, still not looking at him. “I suppose I wasn’t sure, I mean you never got the chance to muck around the way I did at school. I guess I thought that was maybe what you were doing.”

“I don’t think I’m the mucking around type.”

Just then Lily staggered into the kitchen, half frozen, and soon they were all scattered around the front room again eating ten different kinds of cheese and listening to the match.

Before he knew it they were all readying themselves to leave. He gave his parcels for the Weasleys over to Ginny. “I suppose it’s my own fault if they chuck them straight in the bin, but I couldn’t not buy them anything,” he commented.

Ginny sighed. “It’ll get better soon.”

Harry smiled ruefully, “I dunno, you Weasleys have quite a temper. And they don’t even know everything yet.”

Ginny smiled back, “Yes, but it doesn’t last, Mum’ll come around. You’re practically her own son, you’ll see.”

Harry could only hope. “I’ve had my new place attached to the Floo, so the kids can come over that way on the 27th. They registered it as Harry Potter’s Cottage, Barley.”

“I’ll send them at about ten.”

“All right, then. I guess I’ll be off.”

“Daddy I want another hug,” Lily threw herself at him as he turned for the front door.

He hugged her tight and then set her down. “I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

She nodded, looking forlorn. But Harry knew she’d cheer up once she was in the hustle and bustle of the Burrow with yet more presents to open.

He closed the front door behind him and apparated to Cornwall.

 


	3. Christmas With The Malfoys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Loudon Wainwright III song that made me think of this fic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiQV_pHsb6o

There was a sprinkling of snow in the shade of the hedges, but most of it had melted in the stark sunshine that flooded the area from the west where the sun was already beginning to think about sinking.

Terence made it to the door first this time and bowed solemnly to Harry as Scorpius skidded into the polished wooden hallway on stockinged feet.

“Hi, Mr Potter!” Scorpius helped him out of his coat, took his bag and dragged him bodily toward the sitting room. “We can open the presents now, right?”

Harry laughed, “You are worse than Lily.”

“What?”

“I told Lily I didn’t know anyone who wanted to open presents more than she did, but I think I was mistaken.”

“Let Harry go,” said Draco, from his armchair. “I ought to make you wait a bit longer for being so impolite.”

“No!” said Scorpius in alarm, letting go of Harry’s arm. “It’s cold outside, I was getting him in here where it’s warm.”

“Mm-hm,” said Draco, reaching out a hand to Harry.

“Merry Christmas,” said Harry, leaning over to kiss him.

“And was it?”

“It was merry enough, for the most part,” said Harry. “The kids all liked their presents. You were bang on with the suit.”

Draco smiled. “Even Albus?”

“Even Albus, though he would never admit it anywhere I might find out about it.”

“What did you get him?” asked Scorpius.

“I’m sure he’ll have owled you already, I think that’s what he went off to do this morning. You’ll just have to wait for it to arrive.”

“Dad said we could maybe go for a walk before dinner, but that means we have to open the presents now so we still have time,” said Scorpius. “Otherwise it’ll be dark.”

“Or we could just go for a walk now and open the presents when we get back,” suggested Draco, trying and failing not to smirk.

“Oh let’s just get them open, they’re going to be a massive disappointment with all this build up behind them,” said Harry with all the nerves of someone buying gifts for his… whatever he and Draco were… boyfriends seemed a little juvenile, lovers he supposed... and his son for the first time.

“All right then,” said Draco, standing up and going to fetch the last three remaining gifts under the tree and putting them on the coffee table.

“Can I go first?” asked Scorpius.

“Go on then,” said his Father.

Harry and Draco sat side by side on the sofa and watched Scorpius rip the paper off his long awaited final gift. Draco already knew more or less what was under the paper, there was no way Harry was risking getting the wrong thing and it wasn’t like he could have asked Albus what Scorpius might like.

The shiny paper revealed a very old, battered leather binding with no visible title, just a single barely legible word on the spine; Molitor. Scorpius drew in a slow, unsteady breath and carefully lifted the front cover to look inside the book. “O. M. G,” he breathed. “It’s an original _De Lamiis et Pythonicis Mulieribus._ _There’s only seven copies_ _and two of them are missing pages_ _! This must have cost you a fortune!_ ”

Harry looked  embarrassed. “Your Dad said you were interested in old Muggle books on Witchcraft,”  he said helplessly. “ I just went to the antique bookseller on Diagon and asked him what he had that was really rare. He… I think he may have sold it to me at a significant discount.” Harry went even redder. “Said his  son was killed by Snatchers . Godric, I hate it when people do that. Maybe I should take it back?  Are you sure it’s an original? ”

Scorpius stared at him, completely speechless.  He looked at the book, where it was still open to the frontispiece on his lap. 

“Well, no, it’s a present,” said Harry. “I suppose I can’t take it back. But I could try and give him some more money… um… what do you suppose it’s worth?”

Draco, torn between laughter and disgust, put his hand on Harry’s knee. “If some fawning idiot wants to throw things at you that’s his lookout not yours. You’ll only embarrass him if you go back.” He looked over at Scorpius. “You will treat that book as the museum worthy piece it is, it does not go to Hogwarts with you, it will be read in low light, wearing gloves. Now put a stasis charm on it and find a safe place to store it until we can get a suitable display case.”

“Gloves…” said Harry, looking even more shell shocked. “I had it knocking about in my bag all day when I bought it.”

“You weren’t to know,” said Draco with fond exasperation. “Why don’t you open your present.”

Harry glanced down at the forgotten gift on his knee.

“Wait until I get back!” shouted Scorpius from the hallway, “I want to see.”

Harry leaned back on the sofa, one hand resting on the gift in his lap. “How much is it worth?” he asked Draco quietly. “Just tell me so I know and I promise I won’t try and give him more money.”

“You could buy this house with it and still have money to spare,” said Draco frankly.

“Jesus,” said Harry. “I paid 130 galleons, and he only asked for 100. I had a feeling he was undercharging me so I insisted on a tip.”

“You really shouldn’t have spent so much. I know you wanted to get him something special, but you’re not made of money.”

“It just… looked really cool. Like the sort of thing Hermione would have given her left arm for at his age. So I decided it was worth it.”

“On the bright side, you were right. It certainly was worth it.”

“Jesus,” said Harry again.

“Shall I presume that the Shroud of Turin is in here?” Draco asked, patting the squashy parcel on the table in front of him.

“I bloody hope not,” said Harry.

Scorpius reappeared sans book.

“Better open it and check,” said Draco, and began to peel off the Christmas spellotape, ‘ _specially charmed only to be removable by the gifter or giftee_ ’.

Harry felt his palms grow sweaty and tried to surreptitiously wipe them on the sofa.

Draco held up the cashmere jumper, it was deep green with the letter D monogrammed delicately over the breast in silver stitching.

“It’s… we have this family Christmas tradition of getting jumpers,” Harry explained, suddenly feeling like this had made more sense in his head. “My first Christmas presents I ever got, Ron’s Mum sent me one… it was the first new clothes I’d ever been given, the first I’d ever had if you don’t count my school uniform. She knits everyone’s presents every year, with their initials on them most of the time. Um… I thought… you know since it’s tradition… I’d get you one. I didn’t knit it, obviously. Do you like it?”

Draco grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him close to kiss him. “Of course I like it. Is that why you’re wearing that ridiculous cardigan?”

“I like my ridiculous cardigan!” protested Harry. “I mean it’s not ridiculous.”

“It suits you,” said Draco. “If your clothes were too stylish I’d suspect you were a polyjuiced imposter.” He pulled off the black jumper he was wearing and replaced it with the new one, smoothing it down over his shirt and tugging his cuffs into place. “Besides, you clearly have taste, you just rarely apply it to yourself.” He sat back down. “Now open your present and we’ll get outside for that walk.”

Harry smiled to himself, so Draco was nervous about his gift as well. He tore the wrapping off the small box to reveal the last thing he expected, an expensive, but fairly impersonal, wizards grooming kit. He was about to make a confused quip about Draco’s obsession with the state of his hair when Draco interrupted.

“That’s not the whole present, the rest is upstairs.” Harry looked up as Draco stood and offered his hand, “I’ll show you?”

“Can I come too?” asked Scorpius.

“If you must.”

Harry took Draco’s hand and let him lead the way upstairs to the master bedroom.

Draco paused in the middle of the bedroom, looking at a chest of drawers that had not previously been there. “I thought… since you spend so much time here… ”

Harry went over to the  drawers, they were empty, just waiting to be filled.

“… it would make sense to have a shaving kit here as well as at home, so you don’t have to carry stuff back and forwards...”

“And so I stop using yours,” Harry said with a smile.

“Well, yes. And then I thought it would probably make sense to keep some clothes here as well… I made some space in the wardrobe as well. Although the state of your clothes I’m not sure you fully understand the concept of hanging them up...”

Harry laughed and came back to sweep Draco into a hug. “Thank you.”

“I know a shaving kit and a chest of drawers aren’t the most personal of presents,” Draco said into his hair.

“I don’t see what could be more personal than making space for me in your house,” Harry told him.

Over his shoulder Harry  could see Scorpius leaning against the door frame and smiling quietly.

Dressed for the cold, they headed out into the back garden of Draco’s house, where there was a gate into the extensive woods backing onto his property. It was beautifully crisp in Cornwall, with hints of snow in shady areas and frost already starting to reform as the afternoon went on. The woods were flecked with gold between the long shadows, still and beautiful, the beech trees still holding their autumn leaves.

Harry and Draco walked arm in arm as Scorpius darted back and forwards, exploring side paths and pointing out favourite places to Harry.

“Come down here, Mr Potter,” he called from a couple of metres down a rabbit path. “I want to show you this!”

Harry detached himself from Draco, who waited for them on the path, and followed Scorpius. He was led to a small glade with an enormously thick trunked leafless tree.

“It’s an oak tree,” said Scorpius. “It’s the oldest tree in the woods. Or the oldest one I’ve found anyway.”

Harry put a hand on the trunk. “How do you know how old it is?” he asked.

“There’s a spell,” said Scorpius. “Aevum and then whatever you want to date.”

Harry nodded and looked up into the branches.

“Mr Potter?”

“Yes, Scorpius.” He looked back at Scorpius who was hovering behind him.

“You know, if you wanted to move in… I would be all right with that,” said Scorpius earnestly.

Harry’s heart leapt into his throat. He glanced back at where Draco was standing on the path looking off at something in the distance. “Your father and I really haven’t been seeing each other that long, Scorpius,” he answered. “It’s a bit early to start thinking about that sort of thing.”

“He bought you a chest of drawers,” said Scorpius. “You must be here a lot.”

“Well, yes. Probably too much, really,” Harry said, without thinking about who he was talking to.

“But,” said Scorpius, his face falling. “But I thought everything was going really well.”

“I didn’t mean...” Harry paused to rethink his words. “I just meant that sometimes it’s easy to let something take over your life to avoid dealing with other things. Your father and I are fine, there’s nothing wrong. But it would do me good to live alone for a while, to really live alone and not just have a house that I barely spend any time in because I’m always here. You see I never did that, when I was younger. I never lived alone.”

“I don’t see why anyone would want to,” said Scorpius. “It sounds awful.”

“Maybe just to find out that you don’t like it,” said Harry. “Or so you can really appreciate it when you do live with someone. All sorts of reasons. Like finding out how you would decorate a house if you didn’t have to take anyone else’s tastes into consideration. When you’re with someone they become part of everything, affect everything you do, how you do it, why you do it. You’re not just you, you’re you as you are with that person. And I’m not sure I ever found out who I was separately from that.”

“Gosh,” said Scorpius, clearly a bit overwhelmed.

“Sorry,” said Harry. “Didn’t mean to get carried away.”

“That’s okay,” said Scorpius. “I don’t mind. Father and I talk about stuff like that sometimes too. I guess you’ve had a lot to think about lately.”

“Yes,” said Harry. “And as I’m sure your Father would agree, thinking has never been my strong suit.” He smiled and Scorpius smiled back.

Christmas dinner was far more civilised than Harry was used to. Even the odd year when they didn’t go to the Burrow there would be a minimum of nine people, and usually far more, crowded around the table at Grimmauld Place, or at Ron and Hermione’s house or whichever other relative was hosting.

At Draco’s there were only the three of them, faced with a enormous cooked ham, three different kinds of potatoes and an unfeasible number of side dishes and sauces.

“I think Terence got over excited at the idea of a visitor for Christmas dinner,” commented Scorpius. “We don’t really ever have guests.”

Harry glanced at Draco who didn’t meet his eyes, he had never been one for genuine pity. Still proud after all this time.

“Well, perhaps this year will be the start of a change on that front,” suggested Harry.

“I hope so,” said Scorpius.

“Will Master be cutting the ham?” asked Terence from where he was bobbing near Draco’s elbow after pouring the wine.

“All right,” said Draco and stood up, drawing his wand. With a quiet word and a small flick the ham fell into perfectly even slices, steaming slightly.

Harry watched him serve and wondered what he was thinking.

Later as they lay in the dark, Harry could still sense that Draco was thinking, rather than falling asleep. It had been an unusual day, he didn’t quite feel settled himself. It was almost like Christmas was still waiting to happen. George hadn’t played any pranks on him. Molly hadn’t forced him to eat twice as much as he actually wanted to. He hadn’t listened to a single Celestina Warbeck song. He hadn’t explained his latest muggle based gift to Arthur, or been clambered on by any small children.

There was just so much missing.

And that made him feel guilty. Spending most of the day with Draco and Scorpius had been truly lovely, he grew more and more fond of Scorpius the more time he spent with him. But this wasn’t his family yet. These weren’t his Christmas rituals.

“What are you thinking about?” Draco asked softly.

“Nothing… just… “

“Out with it, Potter.” Draco turned into him a little.

“I’m glad you invited me over today,” Harry said.

Draco was silent a minute, then said, “But?”

Harry sighed. “You read me too well, it’s annoying.”

Draco laughed a little. “You miss your family,” he surmised.

“I miss… the way things usually are. I’m a creature of habit.”

“Aren’t we all. There are things I miss too, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Harry reached over and turned Draco’s head further towards him so they could kiss. Draco’s mouth was warm and familiar, comforting.

They lay quiet again for a while, Draco stroking Harry’s side and back.

Harry remembered what he’d been thinking about this afternoon. “I have been thinking though,” he said. “Scorpius said something this afternoon that made me realise something.”

“What’s that?” Draco did sound sleepy now.

“That I’ve never lived alone, this is the first time I’ve come close. But I’m still not actually living alone. Am I?”

Draco was quiet, perhaps ominously so. He had stopped stroking Harry’s side. “I suppose not.”

“Do you think...” Harry paused, he wasn’t really sure why he had brought this up now. He had a bad habit of starting a conversation before considering whether it was the right moment.

“What?”

“I don’t want us to get in a fight.”

Draco rolled away. “Have you noticed that when people say that it invariably leads to a fight?” he said in exasperation.

Harry sat up and cast a Lumos. “Don’t, Draco. You know I’m awful at this stuff. Please let me try and explain myself properly before you get angry.”

Draco sat up as well. “Then stop digging for gnomes and explain yourself.”

Harry tried to figure out what to say. Finally, slowly, he said, “I love spending as much time together as we do, but... I think it’s important that I spend time alone as well. Spend time by myself, learning who I am. I don’t think it’s healthy that I’ve never done that, I think I’d be a better person for it.”

“So you’re breaking up with me,” said Draco flatly.

“What? No...”

Draco didn’t let him continue, “I get it. Scorpius, the chest of drawers… it makes sense.”

“No, no it does not make sense, because I’m not breaking up with you!” said Harry in exasperation.

“Then what are you doing?” Draco snapped.

“Trying to have a really badly timed conversation about pacing ourselves,” said Harry. “It wasn’t the chest of drawers, I love the chest of drawers. It was that Scorpius told me this afternoon that he would be fine with it if I wanted to move in. And I tried to explain to him that we hadn’t been seeing each other nearly long enough to be talking about that, and that made me realised that although we hadn’t talked about it we practically were living together. We’ve only been seeing each other three months, I’m not even officially divorced yet. I don’t want to be one of those people who’s so afraid of being alone, so terrified of themselves, that they just move straight from one person to another. I don’t want you to be a replacement for Ginny, I want you to be something completely new. I want to know who I am on my own in my own space, so I can know who it is that wants to be with you.”

“But what does that mean!” demanded Draco, facing him down over the duvet. “You want space, you want to be alone. How much space? How alone do you want to be?”

Harry scrubbed his hand over his face. “I don’t know… maybe we could try only seeing each other at the weekend for a bit?”

Draco stared at him intently. “That’s what you want?”

“I… yes. And no… of course I don’t want to only see you a couple of days a week. But yes, I think it might be good for me. Maybe even good for us, to slow things down a bit, work back up to where we are now.”

This time it was Draco that sighed. “This will teach me to fall for the emotionally and socially retarded. I think you’re being ridiculous, but if you want more space, then take it. Far be it for me to try and stop you.”

“You’re angry with me.”

“I’m… annoyed at you. It’s not the same thing.”

“It feels like the same thing,” said Harry, sounding more than a little pathetic.

Draco made an exasperated noise. “Harry… what do you expect? Your timing is atrocious as usual, I’m tired and, yes, I’m upset. So just… go to sleep.” He lay back down, facing away, and tugged the duvet up to his shoulder.

“No, I won’t just go to sleep. Not while you’re still upset with me.”

“Well you should have thought of that before you brought up ‘ _pacing ourselves_ ’ at one in the morning!” Draco spat.

“I know, but I’m an idiot who tends to say things when they’re on his mind.” Harry moved closer, lying back down and wrapping an arm around Draco, who ignored it as best he could without moving away. “I love you, Draco.” The other man stiffened further. “I’m in love with you.”

“I’d prefer you didn’t suddenly pull that out just to try and get around me after an argument. I thought better of you, Potter,” Draco replied coldly.

Harry winced. “I’m not, I’m trying to make sure you understand where I’m coming from. Please look at me, Draco.”

Draco rolled over aggressively, forcing Harry to shuffle back out of his way.

Harry laid his hand back on Draco’s arm. “I am in love with you, so in love with you that I’m scared of losing myself, and even more scared of doing it wrong. I don’t want to make the same mistakes I made last time.” He felt Draco give a little under his hand, saw his face soften just slightly.

“You’re in love with me?”

“Yes.”

“So in love that you think we should only see each other on the weekends?”

“Just for a bit. Just for… January, let’s say. Just to see whether I can figure out what I’m doing with myself.”

“What exactly is it you think you’re going to get out of this?”

“I don’t know. That’s kind of the point. I don’t know what it will be like because I have literally never done it before. Maybe it’s a stupid idea, but can I just do it anyway? Without you being angry. Please?”

“Fine, but can we stop talking about it now?”

“Only if you forgive me for being an idiot.”

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake. I forgive you for being an idiot. Again. On the condition that you stop talking, right now.”

Harry firmed his lips together and made a zipping notion that probably made little sense to Draco as wizarding clothes didn’t use zips.

“And put your wand out.”

Harry accomplished a wordless Nox.

“If you go one week and then show up back at my door saying you’ve changed your mind I’m going to make you go through with it anyway” muttered Draco darkly.

“I thought we weren’t talking about it any more,” whispered Harry.

“Shush.” Draco gathered Harry up in the darkness and pulled him close to kiss him. “I love you too, you idiot,” he whispered against Harry’s lips. “Salazar knows why.”

Even as Draco kissed him Harry still felt the shivers of a crisis narrowly averted. “I don’t know why anyone does,” he said with a smile when Draco drew away. “I mean, yes I defeated Voldemort, but that was fate not me. I’d be nothing but a monumental fuck up if it wasn’t for that.” His tone becoming a little less light he said, “Sometimes I think the only people who see me for what I really am are you and Albus.”

“You’re not a monumental fuck up,” said Draco quietly.

“Don’t you start bullshitting me now,” Harry laughed.

“No,” said Draco. “I’ve spent enough time in my life hating myself to know what it sounds like. Is that why you’re doing all this, because you don’t believe you deserve to be happy?”

Harry was silent for a long time, but Draco waited him out.

“Everyone deserves to be happy,” Harry said at last.

“That’s a platitude, not an answer.”

“I don’t know what I deserve,” said Harry. “I think I’m nothing special, I never was anything special. But everyone treats me as if I am. Everyone except for you.”

“Is that why you’re with me?”

“I don’t know… I’m with you because I want to be. Because it feels right.”

“You are something special, Harry.”

Harry laughed awkwardly in the dark, shifting uncomfortably. “I’m not fishing for compliments.”

“It’s not a compliment, it’s a fact. I’ve always known you were something special, or I wouldn’t have spent so much time loudly claiming you weren’t. You’re not a monumental fuck up and if I’d realised you actually believed you were… you’re not, you’re... amazing. Just don’t think I’ll ever admit that in public.”

“Look, forget it,” said Harry, embarrassed. “It was just an offhand remark, it didn’t mean anything.”

“There’s no such thing as an offhand remark.”

“Stop being such a Slytherin. Not everything has to have a deeper meaning.”

Draco was silent for a while, and Harry thought he had finally got out of the conversation.

He was starting to fall asleep when Draco said, “Why do you like it when I put you down?”

“What?”

“I thought it was because you knew it wasn’t true, that it was just a fun change from everyone else treating you like you shit gold. But it’s not, is it?”

“It is nice, to have someone who doesn’t do that,” hedged Harry.

“But there’s more to it.”

Harry sighed. “It’s relaxing, it feels like you see me and they don’t. Like I don’t have to pretend with you. I can fail and you won’t be shocked. You don’t like me because I’m some paragon of virtue ready to save everyone from whatever might come along. I may not really understand why you do like me, but at least it’s not for that. It’s a relief.”

“I think you might be right,” said Draco. “I don’t think you do know yourself very well.”

It was a long time before either of them fell asleep, though they didn’t talk any further.

 


	4. Secrets Told

Draco was quiet that morning, but he didn’t seem to be angry, just a little withdrawn. Annoyed at himself for not waiting to discuss it until after the holidays were over, Harry figured all he could do was make the best of things as they were.

“I was planning to go shopping today,” he said over breakfast. “The kids are at mine tomorrow and I need to pick up a few more things before then. Bedding, a rug and some curtains for upstairs...”

“You got the loft done then,” Draco said conversationally.

“Yup, and fully warded in case the landlady comes by unexpectedly.”

“Where were you going to go?” ashed Draco. “Most of the shops in Diagon and Hogsmeade are closed until after New Year.”

“I thought I’d hit the Muggle sales, it can be crazy but it’s kind of fun. You could come with me?”

Draco frowned, “I...”

“Can we go!” said Scorpius. “Pleeeeease.”

Draco gave Harry a look that said, ‘See what you’ve done now.’

“Um,” said Harry. “I’m not sure your Dad...”

“Please, please, please. I bet it’ll be awesome!”

“All right, we’ll all go shopping,” said Draco. “But Muggle Christmas sales are vicious, don’t say I didn’t warn you. And no using magic unless you’re actually being trampled to death.”

“Is that likely?” asked Scorpius, wide eyed.

“You’ve been to a Muggle Christmas sale before?” asked Harry.

“Not in a long time, but I mostly shopped Muggle in the years after the end of the war. I’m sure you can imagine why.”

“Yeah.” Harry might have been tempted to throw a hex himself back then, had he unexpectedly bumped into Malfoy. He knew Ron would have. “I was thinking of going to Manchester, it’s not far from my place and it might be less crazy than London.”

After transfiguring some winter cloaks into more appropriate Muggle coats for Draco and Scorpius, they apparated to Manchester’s wizarding section and passed through The Old Wellington to get into the Muggle town centre. Fortunately the wizarding section was right next to the massive and far more modern Arndale Centre where Harry wanted to go.

With Scorpius tucked in between the two of them, and his arm firmly through Draco’s whether he liked it or not, they made their way through the crowds.

Scorpius’ eyes were on stalks. “There’s so many of them! I thought you said it would be quieter than London.”

“This is quieter than London, today anyway,” said Harry, gazing in temptation at Costa coffee, but determined to get as far as Debenhams bedding section before giving into the temptation to take a break. Unfortunately Debenhams was right through the Arndale Centre and out the other side and Scorpius wanted to look at everything.

Harry could see Draco hovering outside the Lego store frowning at things he didn’t approve of, which seemed to be most of the things he was seeing, as Scorpius tried to build his teachers out of the different minifig parts.

“Look I made Professor McGonagall,” he exclaimed cheerfully.

“That’s great,” Harry said, surprised they had witches hats in the accessories bin. “I’m just going to go check on your Father.” It was a little less chaotic outside the store. “Hey, I think Scorpius might be in there a while.”

Draco glowered at him, his arms crossed defensively.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” said Harry, putting a hand on his arm. “Why don’t we give him a bit of spending money and let him look around by himself. He’s old enough and as long as he doesn’t leave the centre he should be fine. There’s maps everywhere in here, he could meet us at one of the coffee places in an hour.”

“He’s not used to places like this, I’m not sure it’s a good idea,” Draco hedged.

“Oh, come on. We can go and get the bedding sorted while he stares at things we don’t care about, I know you have strong opinions about thread counts. Besides, you’ve spent enough time in the Muggle world to know he’ll be safe.”

“He could get mugged.”

“He won’t get mugged, he doesn’t even have a mobile phone and that’s what most muggers in places like this are after.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Fine, but if anything happens to him I’m holding you responsible.”

“Of course.”

Draco shoved his way into the Lego Store and Harry waited while he lectured Scorpius for a good ten minutes on what to do and what not to do and where to keep the money he was giving him and not to take it out unless he was at a shop till paying for something and which coffee place to meet them at and not to be late. Scorpius nodded eagerly all the way through the lecture and absconded rapidly as soon as it was over, clearly concerned his Father might change his mind if given the time to do so.

They made good time out of the Arndale, once Scorpius was no longer dragging them into every second shop they passed, and into the chilly air of Manchester. There was sludge in the gutters, and they picked their way over it and into Debenhams, which was full of similarly aged couples seeking similarly cut priced houseware.

Harry reigned in the temptation to look at other things and led Draco through the other shoppers by the hand up the escalators to the linens department. Half an hour and an argument over whether brushed cotton sheets were appalling or not later, and Harry had four single bed sets, three single duvets, four new pillows and a pale blue brushed cotton set for his own queen sized bed. Also a couple of throws and two medium sized rugs. They were so laden they could barely get through the crowds without knocking some unsuspecting punter into the shelving.

“Isn’t there anywhere we won’t be seen shrinking these?” Draco muttered irritably as a man in an ugly jumper swore at him for hitting him with a rug.

“Too many security cameras these days,” said Harry. “It was a bloody nightmare in the Obliviator division for a few years, wizards all too used to being able to just duck into a quiet corner or an alley, never spotting the CCTV cameras until it was too late. We had to invent a whole new class of spells to alter digital footage.”

They virtually fell off the end of the escalator and nearly got stuck in the doors leaving. Finally they stood on the street, panting with exertion. Draco looked hopelessly toward the Arndale Centre.

“I can’t do it,” he panted. “You can’t make me go back in there with all of this.”

“Not even to rescue your only son?” Harry quipped.

“He can carry some of this!” Draco realised. “Come on.”

Harry trailed after Draco, who seemed to have got his second wind, toward the small Costa they had agreed to meet at. Draco came up short however and Harry caught him up as he was staring suspiciously toward the coffee shop. Scorpius was indeed waiting outside it for them, with only a couple of small bags. But he wasn’t waiting alone, he was talking to a group of two girls and a boy, all of whom looked a similar age to him. They were showing him something on one of their phones.

Harry walked past Draco and called to Scorpius, who looked up.

“Mr Potter!”

The teenagers with him glanced around and caught sight of Harry and Draco.

“That’s my Father and his boyfriend,” said Scorpius amiably. “Is he all right?” he asked Harry, looking at his Father, who was still looking suspiciously at them from some distance away.

“Bit overladen,” said Harry prudently. “Why don’t you go and take some of it for him.”

Scorpius headed obediently over and took the rug and pillows from Draco as his Father quizzed him under his breath such that Harry couldn’t hear what was being said. Though by the glances over to them he could guess.

“So what are your names?” he asked politely, to distract them from the conversation.

“I’m Gemma,” answered the short girl with the large glasses. “And this is Tony and Tina, they’re twins.”

She had gestured to the two dark skinned teenagers next to her who didn’t even look related never mind twins. Tina was nearly six foot tall, slender, and had very dark skin compared to her brother who was more coffee coloured with broad shoulders and an eyebrow piercing. They had a challenging look in their eyes as they looked back at him, and he suspected a lot of people refused to believe they were twins. He wisely didn’t comment on it. Scorpius had come back over by now, with Draco following, still looking reticent. “I’m Harry and this is...”

“Mr Malfoy,” said Draco before he could continue. “Scorpius’s Father.”

“We were just going to sit down and have a coffee before we headed home, would you like to join us?” asked Harry, feeling Draco’s glower on the back of his neck.

Tony shrugged a shoulder, but Gemma immediately said, “That would be great.” Smiling widely at Scorpius.

Tina rolled her eyes, “Sure.”

Harry paid for the drinks, as the teens found them a table that would fit three if they stole a chair from someone else, and had a windowsill that could be perched on. The tiny coffee shop was stuffed with bargain shoppers and shopping bags and the window out into the rest of the shopping centre was steamy with condensation. Scorpius sat on the window ledge and Gemma immediately sat next to him. Tina rolled her eyes yet again and took the stool that Tony had found to sit at the table with the adults. Tony leaned against the wall, being significantly too broad to fit on a windowsill.

Harry was left to make stilted conversation with Tina as Draco was at his impassively silent best, frowning into his Americano as if it had insulted him.

Beside them he heard Gemma nervously ask Scorpius if he had a girlfriend. He glanced at Draco and saw him listening in too. Harry chanced a glance at the boy and saw him stumbling in horror as he realised that Gemma was interested in him, but realising that he couldn’t say yes he was seeing someone without his Father overhearing.

“Um… that is… I…”

“Maybe he has a boyfriend, Gemma,” said Tina suddenly. Although she sounded more as if she were trying to dig Scorpius deeper than help him out. Everyone was now visibly watching Scorpius to see what he would say, and he had gone extremely red.

“I’m not… I mean I am… I mean...”

“Oh for Salazar’s sake,” said Draco. “We already know about Albus, so you can stop stammering.”

Scorpius froze, his mouth open, and stared at his Father. “You… you know?”

Draco gave him a look, his eyebrows raised.

“Both of you?” he looked to Harry.

Harry nodded, feeling a bit awkward at the circumstances of the revelation. “We were hoping you would get around to telling us yourself, but yes. I found out last time I was at the school.”

“But nobody knows!” cried Scorpius, the Muggles with them entirely forgotten. “Not even Rose!”

“Nobody told me,” said Harry. “I… I ducked under the stands briefly before the game.” He left it at that, hoping Scorpius would remember what they had been doing under the stands with out him having to say anything else.

Scorpius frowned, thinking back. “I don’t… oh, we were arguing. You heard us?”

Harry nodded again.

“Come on, Gemma,” said Tina suddenly. “Let’s get going.” She stood up and pulled Gemma to her feet.

Scorpius stood up as well.

As the children said goodbye, Harry turned back to Draco. “Well, that wasn’t awkward.”

“I was tired of him keeping it a secret, it seemed the perfect opportunity to end the charade,” said Draco grumpily.

“And nothing at all to do with wanting rid of them,” Harry commented, nodding at the retreating backs of the three teenagers.

“An added extra,” said Draco. “Now we can get out of this hell hole and make some decent coffee at your place.”

Harry couldn’t argue that, it was too warm and too loud in the shop, and the coffee was better than the Ministry’s but not a patch on the beans he had at home. And it wasn’t like they could do any more shopping with all the things they were already carrying.

Scorpius sat down in the chair Tina had vacated, clutching his Mocha. “Are you mad at me?” he asked nervously.

“No,” said Draco shortly, “but we can talk about it at Harry’s.”

“All right,” said Harry, “let’s go then.”

They all trooped into Harry’s hallway a little the worse for wear. It had started sleeting while they were in the shopping centre and they had been caught in it on the way back. They had Apparated to Harry’s doorway laden and dripping and were now stripping off their coats in the hallway amongst a sea of bags. Draco cast a drying charm on Scorpius and then himself as Harry dealt with himself and the bags. His hair instantly poofed in all directions and he dragged his free hand through it trying to force it back down, to no avail. His hair had the magical ability to be wiry and flyaway at the same time, especially after a drying charm. Well after his drying charms, they always seemed to be slightly too strong.

“Are you sure you’re not mad at me?” Scorpius asked again.

Harry looked over at him, but waited for Draco to answer.

Draco strode through to the living room, gesturing for them to follow, and sat himself down. “I’m not angry with you for not telling me, I am uncomfortable with the fact that Albus regularly encourages you to keep things from me. We have always been honest with each other.”

Scorpius looked at his shoes.

“I don’t expect to be informed of every little detail of your life, but when you have been dating someone for… how many months?”

“Since just before the summer holidays,” Scorpius answered quietly. “Well kind of, we just talked about it, we weren’t really together till after we got back to school.”

“Six months of letting me believe you were still chasing Rose Weasley,” said Draco flatly. “Not just a lie of omission, but outright lies Scorpius - in your letters home, in our conversations.”

“I know you don’t like Albus,” Scorpius said, still not meeting his Father’s eye.

“I don’t trust Albus, and with good reason,” retorted Draco. “Liking has nothing to do with it. And none of this has made me any more likely to start trusting him.”

“I’m sorry,” Scorpius sighed, distraught.

Draco sighed as well. “I’m going to let this go Scorpius, in the hopes that now that it’s out in the open the two of you can turn over a new leaf and start trusting us. But I want you to think long and hard about how successful a relationship can be if it can’t stand up in the light of day. I can only hope that you understand that Harry and I are being as open about our relationship as we can be in the circumstances, that the secrecy we have is not to hide ourselves but to protect people who need time to adjust. The people who need to know, know. And the people who don’t know will know as soon as it won’t do more harm, than good.”

“I know that you and Mr Potter have more to deal with than me and Albus,” said Scorpius. “But I’m not sure Albus does. It’s not just that he doesn’t want his Dad to know, the Weasley’s aren’t exactly fond of the Malfoy’s, and we’re already pretty unpopular at school without people knowing we’re more than friends. He takes everything so personally, I’m worried that if people react badly that...” he let that hang.

“That he’ll break up with you,” finished Harry.

Scorpius nodded. “Everything’s going really well, even better than we thought it would. But that’s always how it’s been when it’s just us. A s soon as other people get involved everything just gets difficult.”

“You have as much right to privacy as we do, Scorpius,” said Draco. “I’m just asking you not to lie to me, or to pretend you’re interested in someone you’re not, because that’s not fair to them either.”

“Rose doesn’t care, she thinks...” Scorpius began.

“That’s not the point, Scorpius,” Draco broke in. “It’s the principal of the matter. People expect us to lie, they expect us to deceive and manipulate. Because we’re Malfoy’s, because we’re Slytherins. Don’t prove them right!”

Scorpius hung his head again, looking on the verge of tears.

“Why don’t I make us some lunch,” suggested Harry. “And then maybe we can take a look at the attic rooms and get them finished up?”

It was a slightly subdued afternoon after the bustle of the morning. Harry let Scorpius help him decide on colours for the upstairs rooms while Draco read the paper downstairs.

“Are you going to tell Albus you know?” Scorpius asked eventually, once they’d finished making up the beds.

Harry sat down on one of them. “I don’t know. Probably not. I’m used to Albus keeping secrets, I don’t see any point in forcing the issue. I’d rather wait and let him admit it himself. Are you going to tell Albus that we know?”

Scorpius frowned, “That’s what I’ve been thinking about. Would you rather I didn’t?”

“As long as you don’t mention your Father and I being together or that I was there when you found out, it is entirely up to you what you tell Albus. Although if you wait until you see him you can be entirely honest as I’ll have told him about Draco and I by then.”

“Can’t you just tell him you know? That you overheard us?”

Harry looked at Scorpius. “Being the one to tell Albus something he won’t like is never any fun, I know that more than anyone. But I’m afraid I’m not taking that hit for you, sorry.”

Scorpius looked abashed and understanding at the same time. “I’ll just write him then, I’ll tell him my Father knows and that he said you had told him about it so you must know as well.”

“All right.”

Draco took Scorpius home after they’d had dinner and left Harry to his nerves regarding tomorrow. He was looking forward to having the kids here, in his new home, but his plans to tell them about Draco towards the end of the trip might be scuppered if Albus brought up Scorpius. He couldn’t discuss that and not mention his own secret relationship, it was too hypocritical. Maybe it would be better to tell them sooner rather than later, give them time to adjust rather than send them off hardly having started to process that their father was seeing someone already.

He treated himself to an early night, but only ended up tossing and turning as his brain insisted on going though imaginary conversations instead of sleeping.

\--

Lily stepped through first, broom in hand even though he’d told her it couldn’t be flown here. Albus came through promptly after, his face worryingly neutral as he looked around. James was last, looking good natured. Harry untangled himself from Lily’s hug just as James said, “Wotcher, Dad.” He’d picked up the greeting from Teddy when he was five and it had never worn off. Of course Teddy had learned it from Harry, who had talked to him about his parents as often as possible to assuage the guilt he felt over their deaths in the final battle.

“Well, this is it,” said Harry gesturing around the room. “Living room.” He walked over to the door and into the hall with them all trooping after him. “Kitchen’s in there, that’s the bathroom, that’s my room and up the stairs are the other beds. Feel free to explore. Should I make some tea?”

“Go on then,” said James, heading for the stairs. Lily followed him into the kitchen, but Albus hung back in the hallway.

“Can I look in the garden?” asked Lily.

“If you like, but leave the broom here.”

Lily humphed a little and stayed back, caressing her broom as if to assure it that she would never just leave it behind.

“Why don’t you put your broom with mine in the hall cupboard. I assure you it’ll be quite safe in there.”

“But, Dad,” Lily complained.

“She hasn’t put it down since she got it,” Albus said from the doorway. “She sleeps with it.”

“I do not!” said Lily flushing red.

“Do too,” said Albus. “And you know what they say about girls and broomsticks...”

“Albus Potter!” said Harry, who knew exactly what they said about girls and broomsticks, having been married to a female professional Quidditch player.

“Well, they do,” said Albus.

Lily marched out of the room, her face bright red.

Albus stepped into the room and pushed the door closed with faked casualness.

Harry stopped making the tea and braced himself.

“Scorpius said you know and that you told his Dad.”

“That’s right.”

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Scorpius wanted his Dad to know, it was you that wanted it kept a secret.”

“How do you know that! Have you been spying on us?”

Harry sighed. “I accidentally overheard the two of you talking before the Quidditch match.”

“Accidentally! Yeah, right.”

“Yes, accidentally,” Harry retorted. “And before things get carried away, there was no need for you to keep this a secret. I have no problem with you dating Scorpius, if that’s what you both want. In fact...”

“I don’t need your permission!”

“No, you don’t. But as Scorpius is staying over soon, I think you should tell your Mother when you get home.”

“Or you will, I suppose!” Albus said furiously.

Harry sighed again. “I won’t tell your mother if you don’t want me to, but I do need to ask...”

“What?”

“Are you… I mean are the two of you...” Harry could feel his face starting to go red. “I mean I don’t know if you… but do you… um… there are certain spells that you should probably know about...”

Albus started at him, his own face suddenly going as red as Harry’s. He gaped wordlessly for a moment then shouted, “I hate you!” and ran out of the room.

“Well,” said Harry to himself. “That went brilliantly, good job.”

He finished making the tea and a few minutes later James reappeared. “What did you say to Albus?” He didn’t seem angry, just curious.

Harry sipped at his tea. “I couldn’t comment,” he said.

James sat down and picked up his own tea as Lily came in without her broom. “There aren’t enough beds,” she said.

“I thought I’d sleep on the sofa and one of you could take my bed. That way you’ll all have your own space.”

“You don’t have to do that, Dad,” said James. “Albus and I can take turns on the sofa. It’s only three nights.”

“I’m not sure Albus will be so eager.”

James shrugged. “I’ll take the sofa tonight and we’ll see how it goes.”

“Where is he anyway?” asked Harry.

“Upstairs sulking,” answered James. “He likes to begin as he means to go on.”

“Godric, I hope not,” sighed Harry.

“Mum says you were the same when you were fifteen.”

“I’m sure she does. I like to think I at least had better reason for it.”

James shrugged, “It’s all relative, I guess.”

“I suppose it is.”

Albus sulked his way through lunch, claiming he wasn’t hungry, and only finally made a reappearance at dinner time. Harry was relieved as he had decided to get things over with as soon as possible, to negate any chance of Albus accusing him of keeping secrets.

“Now that we’re all here,” Harry said, as Albus sat down. “There’s something I wanted to tell you.”

“Can we guess?” asked James with a lopsided grin. “Are you running away to join a rock and roll band? Or maybe going into St Mungo’s for gender reassignment like that Quidditch player last year. What was his… sorry her name?”

“I’m seeing somebody,” Harry broke in, before James suggested any more unlikely options.

“What, like a therapist?” said James, sounding surprised.

“No, I mean romantically.”

There was a long silence. They all looked shocked.

“Already?” said James.

“Who!?” said Albus forcefully.

Harry replied to him directly. “I’m dating Scorpius’s Father.”

Albus shot out of his seat, staring at him. “You… you… ”

“I wanted to be honest with you all, tell you as soon as I was sure it was serious.”

“Serious!” said James.

“But Daddy,” said Lily. “Scorpius’s Father is a man.”

“Yes, he is. I never told you I was bisexual because… I just didn’t. I thought I was always going to be with your Mother. I should have told you though, in retrospect.”

Albus was still gaping, searching for words. Finally he picked up the plate in front of him and smashed it hard to the floor, drawing all attention back to him. “You have to ruin everything!” he shouted. “Don’t you!?” Then he left the room, slamming the kitchen door behind him.

Harry sighed. “I pretty much expected that.”

“Yeah, well,” said James. “I’m considering it myself.”

“I’m sorry, I know it hasn’t been long since...”

“No, it hasn’t. It hasn’t been long at all,” said James coldly. “So were you boning him before you left Mum or did you at least wait until after?”

Harry flushed red. “Don’t talk like that in front of your sister.”

“I notice you don’t deny it.”

“Your Mother and I broke up because we weren’t happy any more.”

“Because you were happy with him!”

“No! We weren’t… it wasn’t that simple.”

“Save it, Dad. I’m not hungry, I’m going to bed.”

James didn’t slam the door, but he might as well have.

Harry hadn’t planned to lie, but he had hoped to avoid the more awkward facts. But the only thing he really hadn’t expected was that it would be James that asked the question that made everything seem as bad as it could possibly be, and not Albus. He looked over at Lily. She was staring down at her plate, not crying, but close to tears.

“I’m sorry, Lily. I wanted to give you all more time, but I couldn’t have you find out some other way.”

“Does Mum know?” she asked in a quavery voice.

“Yes, your Mother knows, she’s known from the start.”

“Were you… did you… do what James said? Leave Mum cause you were… you know.”

Harry stared at his hands. “We didn’t get together properly until after I told your Mother I was leaving, but… things were messy. Your Mother and I really hadn’t been happy, sometimes it just takes something new to make you realise what’s been missing for a long time. I’m sorry, I wish it had happened differently. I wish...” he broke off. “I don’t want to lie to you, but I wish James hadn’t said that, we’ve tried hard to keep the mess from upsetting you three. You shouldn’t have to deal with this stuff.”

Lily met his eyes. “Are you in love with him?”

Harry smiled a little, that was a question he didn’t mind answering. “Yes, I am.”

Lily looked back at her plate. “Can I go too? Maybe we could have dinner later.”

“If you want to.”

Lily nodded and slipped from her chair and out the door, leaving Harry alone with a vat of lamb stew and a stone in his stomach.


	5. And A Happy New Year

Harry sat at the table for half an hour, then cast his Patronus and sent it off.

A few minutes later a ghostly terrier came through the window and said, “Come on over then.”

He stood up, went out into the hall and called out loud enough for everyone in the house to hear him, trying not to sound as shaky as he felt. “I know you’re upset, and I think maybe you’d like some space. I’m going out for a few hours to visit your Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron, so you don’t have to hide from me.” He paused, thinking. “I’ll sleep on the sofa when I get back, take whatever beds you want. The food’s keeping warm in the kitchen, try and have some dinner before you go to sleep.” There was no response, the house was loudly silent.

He went into the living room, as he expected there was no-one in there. He threw some Floo powder in the fire and stepped into it.

It was still early, so Rose and Hugo weren’t in bed. Hugo was playing dragons and broomsticks with Ron at the coffee table. Rose was reading a book in an armchair. She peered over it at Harry.

“Um...hi,” he said.

“Long time no see,” said Ron.

“Yeah...sorry.”

Hermione appeared in the doorway. “We already ate, but if you’re hungry...”

“Um… not really.” He suddenly felt very awkward. He hadn’t considered that of course Rose and Hugo would be here, and now he didn’t know what he had come here to do. “Can I… that is...”

“Rose, Hugo,” said Hermione. “Why don’t you go upstairs and tidy your rooms like you promised me you would do this afternoon.”

Hugo sighed in faux sorrow, but immediately moved to do as he was told. Rose shot Harry a poisonous glance before stomping after him. Harry had a feeling there had been something odd in the air the year Albus, Rose and Scorpius had been born. Perhaps if he’d paid attention in Divination he might even know what it was.

“You didn’t have to...” Harry began, once the children were gone.

“Clearly I did,” said Hermione. “Now are you going to sit down and finally tell us what’s going on with you?”

Harry slumped into an armchair and put his head in his hands for a moment. “Yes, I am.” He sat up. “But I also just wanted to say I’m sorry we don’t talk like we used to, I’m sorry I let other things get in the way of our friendship.”

Hermione sat down as well. “Oh, Harry,” she sighed. “There’s nothing in the way of our friendship. We don’t have to talk every day to care for each other, not when we’ve been friends so long. But I am glad that you’re finally comfortable talking about whatever it is that you’ve been up to.”

“Comfortable,” said Harry. “Hmm.”

“Well get it out then,” said Ron. “Personally I’d like to know why the hell you walked out on my sister.”

“Ron,” said Hermione.

“Well, he did. Mum’s beside herself, but she won’t fess up even though she clearly knows something about it that we don’t. Keeps saying it’s not her place to discuss it and then goes and bangs pots and pans around for half an hour.”

“Ginny said it was a mutual decision,” scolded Hermione.

“It was a mutual agreement,” said Harry quickly, before Ron and Hermione continued arguing about it. “But it was my decision, I was the one that wanted to leave. But I think, once she thought about it, Ginny agreed with me.”

“I thought the two of you were happy,” said Ron. “You seemed happy.”

“We were content,” said Harry. “I wouldn’t say happy. Not that we weren’t ever, but not in a while. We were just used to feeling that way and so we never noticed it.”

“You can’t be happy all the time,” said Hermione.

“No,” said Harry. “I do know that. But we weren’t… happy with each other. We weren’t making each other happy, any more.”

Hermione frowned at him thoughtfully. “And you just suddenly noticed that.”

“Um… yes. I mean I knew I wasn’t happy, but I thought it was the job. But then I realised it wasn’t the job… not just the job. It was kind of a little bit everything. Everything was just a little bit wrong. And I realised that now I could see it I couldn’t un-see it. And I couldn’t not act on it.”

“None of which tells me what Mum’s so livid about,” prodded Ron.

Harry thought about trying to prevaricate, but with the kids knowing and his apparent complete inability to lie, there probably wasn’t really much use in trying to pretend he and Draco had started seeing each other well after the break up. Draco was going to be furious with him, the one thing he was supposed to keep quiet and he had blown every single discussion involving it so far. The Sorting Hat had clearly been very very wrong about him having any cunning Slytherin tendencies. “Molly’s angry because Ginny told her that there… was someone else involved in my decision to leave.”

Ron looked confused by his phrasing, but only for a second. He flew to his feet turning bright red. “What!”

“I don’t mean… it’s not like...” Harry stuttered. “It wasn’t some big affair. Something happened unexpectedly and I told Ginny straight away. Well almost straight away, cause I quit my job first… and I wanted to be sure, so I took some space. I wanted to be sure I knew what I wanted, that I wasn’t just getting carried away or having a mid life crisis or something.”

“You do seem to be having a bit of a mid life crisis,” Hermione said. “Harry, what happened earlier this year. Thinking you’d lost Albus, the dreams… the things we saw. That would shake anyone.”

“I know,” said Harry. “It made me realise how precious everything was. How fragile. And it made me angry… angry like I haven’t been since… back then. It was supposed to be over!”

“It is over,” said Hermione.

“God, I hope so,” said Harry. “But you can’t say that. You don’t know what’s next. And I don’t want to live my life wondering what might have been if I’d just been brave enough to find out what I really wanted.”

“I’m worried that you’re mistaking change for resolution. Sometimes it’s easier to go somewhere else than deal with what you feel where you are.”

Ron suddenly broke in, “For fuck’s sake, enough of the mind healer stuff, can we get back to the bit where he cheated on my sister?”

“If Ginny wanted you to defend her honour she’d have told you about it herself,” snapped Hermione. “It’s none of our business.”

“She’s my sister!”

Hermione glanced upstairs, clearly concerned the children were going to overhear.

“This was a bad idea,” said Harry. “It’s the wrong time, I should go.” He stood up. “I just… I just told the kids that I was seeing someone, and it didn’t go well… and I thought I should give them some space… and the first place I thought of to go was here… and Draco said I should talk to you… ” he stopped rambling sharply.

“Oh dear,” said Hermione, understanding immediately, as she often did.

“Oh dear what?” said Ron.

Hermione looked at him with concern and cast a silencing charm on the room so that the sound wouldn’t travel any. She looked back to Harry. “Well, better tell us what you came here to tell us.”

Harry very much wanted to collapse back into the chair and curl up in a ball, but instead he did his best not to look the way he felt. “I’m dating Draco Malfoy,” he said, with as much dignity as he could manage while preparing to leap out the way of a hex.

Hermione edged in front of Ron. “I could say I’m surprised, but I’m not entirely sure I am.”

“Scorpius thinks it’s brilliant,” Harry said, remembering the moment fondly in an attempt to remember that not everyone hated him.

Ron gaped at him over Hermione’s shoulder. “You left my sister for Malfoy?” he said in bewilderment, but it didn’t take long for that to morph into fury. “You left my sister for Draco fucking Ferret-face Malfoy!!!”

“Go,” said Hermione, moving to keep herself between them as Ron tried to side step her. “Quickly, I’ll talk to him, just go.” She pushed Ron’s wand down where it was coming up under her arm.

Harry took her advice and dived for the Floo, shouting the first thing that came to mind as the green flames flared. “Malfoy Manor!”

He stumbled out of the fireplace into the sitting room, startling Draco and Scorpius. They all stared at each other in surprise.

“Sorry, I should have called first, but...”

“Did you know you’re on fire?” asked Scorpius.

“What?” Harry looked down at himself. His right trouser leg was on fire, Ron must have got a hex off as he was leaving. “Aguamenti!” The fire sizzled out and the pain made itself known. “Ow!” He limped over to a chair.

“Who set you on fire?” asked Draco.

“Ron,” Harry answered.

Draco shook his head and got up to kneel in front of Harry. He rolled the damp remains of his trouser leg up and took a look. “You told him about me I presume.” He cast a couple of quick spells.

“Yeah. I told the kids, and it went about as badly as it could, so I thought I’d just get it all over with while I was on a roll.”

“You told Albus?” asked Scorpius, moving over to the sofa closest to them.

“Yeah, so you’re free to write him about it now if you want.”

“What did he say?”

“Not much. Smashed a plate, told me he hated me, ran out of the room. About what I expected really.”

“What about James?” said Draco. “And Lily?”

Harry didn’t respond. He didn’t think he could all of a sudden, he was feeling quite choked and he could feel his fingers trembling with left over adrenaline.

“Scorpius,” said Draco calmly, his hand still on Harry’s calf. “Could you give us the room for a bit?”

Scorpius nodded and left, peering curiously over his shoulder most of the way to the door.

The minute Harry heard the door close he let out the cracked sob he’d been holding in. He collapsed off of the chair and into Draco’s lap. “I’ve upset everyone. James hates me, James never hates me. Ron hates me. Lily hates me!”

Draco stroked his hair. “When you finally stopped living your life the way you thought everyone else wanted you to live it…. well, it was bound to get messy.”

“What am I going to do? I left the kids at mine, cause I thought they needed space. But I think it was me that needed it. I’m fucking scared to go back there!”

“How long have you been gone?”

Harry tried to reign in his tears and think. “Um… not that long. Maybe half an hour.”

“All right. Come on, get up and sit on the sofa with me.”

Draco levered him up and they both collapsed onto the sofa, Harry sprawled messily over Draco, his head tucked under his chin.

“Lie here with me for another half hour, you’ll feel better in a bit.”

Harry sniffled into Draco’s chest, feeling pathetic, as Draco stroked his hair.

“So are they just angry that you’re dating me, or...”

“I’m useless at this, I’m so sorry, Draco. Every time someone asks when we got together I cock it up.”

Draco sighed, but didn’t stop running his hand through his hair. “It’s all right, I was the one that insisted on telling Scorpius in the first place, and encouraged you to talk to Weasley. With so little time having passed I was asking for the accusation. And I can hardly claim it’s not true can I.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Harry mumbled.

“I know how you love to take all the credit for things, but there were definitely two of us involved in what happened.”

“I seduced you,” said Harry with dramatic misery worthy of Moaning Myrtle.

Draco burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“You… ha ha ha… oh… you couldn’t...” Draco gasped, unable to get enough breath to speak for how hard he was laughing.

Harry rolled off him onto his knees by the sofa, looking bewildered and slightly annoyed.

Draco managed to calm himself enough to speak, “You have a very bizarre idea of what constitutes seduction if you think clinging like a drunken limpet to someone is a valid technique.”

“It worked, didn’t it,” Harry said indignantly.

“You weren’t even conscious at the time.”

“I was conscious enough when I kissed you.”

Draco smiled, his laughing fit past. “You certainly were, and so was I, when I kissed you right back.”

“Yeah.” Harry sighed.

Draco pulled him back onto the sofa. “Don’t think about it for a bit.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, all I do is think about things.”

Harry nuzzled his way round the side of Draco’s neck, buried his hands in the small of Draco’s back, and let himself go limp.

After a while he felt himself starting to nearly doze off, and if he was relaxed enough to do that then it was time to pull himself together again. “I should get back I suppose,” he said into the cushions.

“You should.”

They lay where they were for another ten minutes.

“You are going to have to move first,” Draco pointed out, “You’re far too heavy for me to get out from under without unnecessary force.”

“Oh well,” said Harry. “I guess we’re here for good then.”

Draco began poking him in the side. Harry wasn’t exactly ticklish, but he wasn’t exactly not either. Besides it was annoying. He pulled his hands out and struggled with Draco for a minute, trying to catch his hands. By the time he succeeded he was on his knees and Draco was able to escape out from underneath him.

Draco stood up and pulled Harry to his feet. “Right, put that Gryffindor courage back on, and remember you’re the adult. Don’t let Albus get you down. From what Scorpius tells me, he likes you a lot more than he lets on.”

“He couldn’t like me any less.”

Draco ignored that. “And Weasley will get over it, you’re not going to lose that friendship… much as I might prefer otherwise.”

Harry smiled, as was expected, but he still felt a bit old and worn and anxious.

“Do you want me to come back with you?” Draco asked softly.

He shook his head. “No, but maybe if things calm down a bit you could come by for lunch before they go home, remind them you’re a real person and not just proof that Ginny and I are really through.”

“I could do that. Let me know.”

“Yeah.”

Harry kissed Draco softly, and a little longer than was necessary just to say goodbye, and went back over to the fireplace. “Apologise to Scorpius for my interruption.”

Draco nodded and Harry Floo’d back to his cottage.

James was sitting on the sofa with Lily.

Harry paused uncertainly in front of the fire and they looked at each other.

“I’m sorry,” said James. “I was out of order.”

Lily stood up and held out her arms for a hug. Harry pulled her to him, but remained looking at James over her shoulder. “You don’t have to apologise.”

“I shouldn’t have said what I said,” James replied. “Especially in front of Lily.”

Lily stepped away, but took Harry’s hand. “We Floo’d Mum.”

“Oh?” Harry wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Though they seemed a lot calmer, so maybe good.

“She said not to blame you too much for being an idiot, cause you can’t help it,” said Lily. “She says it will all probably turn out for the best and that if she’s not all that angry with you then there’s no point in us being mad. She also said she went on a date last week with one of the Chasers from the Tutshill Tornados.”

Harry glanced upstairs. “What did Albus think about all that?” he asked.

James shrugged. “He didn’t say much. Then he asked to speak to Mum on his own, so we let him. He’s upstairs again now, but he seemed okay. Said he wanted to write a letter.”

“How were Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione?” asked Lily. “Do they know too? Did you see Hugo and Rose?”

“I didn’t really see Hugo and Rose, they were upstairs. Your Aunt and Uncle didn’t know, but I told them while I was there.”

“Uncle Ron doesn’t like Mr Malfoy much,” James commented.

“No,” said Harry. “He doesn’t.”

“You weren’t there as long as we expected.”

“I wasn’t there long at all, Uncle Ron also needed some space to… vent.”

“At least Albus likes Mr Malfoy,” said Lily. “And I do too… well, I mean I don’t know him… but he helped you find Albus didn’t he. And Mum said it was probably not his fault so we should try to get on with him. And I don’t see why I would dislike him, and Scorpius has always seemed nice.”

“Scorpius is annoying,” said James. “But then so are the lot of you, and I put up with that.”

“I’m not annoying,” said Lily.

“You are very annoying,” said James. “But at least you’re cute as well.”

Harry smiled, feeling the tension unwinding as Lily launched herself at James and attempted to bite him. At the age of six she had taken a sudden and violent dislike to the word cute, and it had never gone away.

He heard footsteps on the stairs and turned to see Albus approach. Harry waited to see what he would do as Lily and James scuffled beside him.

“I told Mum,” he said to Harry.

“Told Mum what?” said Lily, lifting her teeth from James’ bicep.

“That I’m dating Scorpius,” he said, challenging her to make it a big deal.

“I thought Scorpius was in love with Rose,” said Lily. “Is everyone turning gay except me?” She eyed James suspiciously.

“Not guilty,” said James, hands in the air.

“Scorpius is bisexual,” said Albus. “And I’m gay.” Again it was a challenge rather than a statement. “And I was _always_ gay, not that it’s any of _your_ business.”

“Can people turn gay, Daddy?” she asked.

“Um… I don’t think so, honey. I always liked boys as well as girls.”

“Does Mum like boys and girls?”

“No, just boys.”

“I don’t think I like either,” said Lily. “I mean not like that.”

“Well… um… that’s fine too,” said Harry, feeling a little out of his depth.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said James. “You just haven’t found anyone you fancy yet.”

“I don’t want to fancy anyone!” declared Lily. “And you can’t make me!” She resumed her attempts to bite her way through James’ arm.

Harry considered intervening, but decided James could look after himself, and Lily was old enough to know that she wasn’t really allowed to gnaw her brothers arm off. So he moved away from the battle, towards Albus, who was hovering in the doorway still.

“I was thinking, if you’d like, Scorpius and his Father could come over for lunch tomorrow or the day after?” he asked cautiously.

Albus looked at him through narrowed eyes. Lily squealed loudly behind them, James was laughing. “Dunno,” he said guardedly. “I suppose maybe the day after would be all right.”

“I’ll see what they say then.”

“Why?” said Albus.

“Why what?”

“Why did it have to be _him_ , it’s going to be really weird now.”

Harry didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything.

“Couldn’t you have at least waited.”

Harry thought about that seriously. “It would have been easier,” he agreed. “But sometimes things refuse to be easy. Sometimes you just can’t wait.”

“You make it sound like you have no self control.”

“I’m not sure I have an awful lot,” Harry admitted. “It’s never been my strong suite.”

Albus face twitched. “Me either,” he said.

Harry smiled, just a little.

 

–

**New Years Eve – One Year Later**

 

As the bells tolled over the wireless Harry let the room full of rowdy, kissing, hugging, shouting, family and friends drift away as he focussed only on kissing Draco. Through the tall windows of the main dining room of Grimmauld Place you could just make out the tops of the fireworks going off above the Thames, far in the distance.

Draco tasted of wine and cigars, which Harry didn’t entirely approve of, but was more than willing to put up with. He put one hand on Draco’s bottom and squeezed, knowing that no one else was really paying attention.

Draco pulled back a little, smiling. “Feeling frisky?”

“Maybe. You know how grabby I get when I’ve had a few.”

“There are children in the room, Potter.”

Harry laughed.

“Did you ever think all these people would be able to spend a whole evening in a room together without fighting?” said Draco, sounding slightly amazed.

They surveyed the room, still wrapped around one another.

All the children had been allowed to stay up for the bells. Harry could see Lily hugging her grandmother amongst the sea of red hair that seemed to make up about 50% of the guest list. There were Harry’s friends and Ginny’s friends and their children’s friends and even some of Draco’s friends. Harry could see Blaise Zabini talking to Charlie Weasley over glasses of whiskey.

Slowly people were calming down from the round of kisses and Happy New Year’s and starting to look back to Harry who had led the official countdown. Harry stepped away a little, so he only had one hand around Draco’s waist.

“Speech!” shouted someone from the back, it sounded a bit like Neville.

“Godric, no,” sputtered Harry. “I’m terrible at speeches.”

“Go on, Dad,” said James. “You’re out of practice and I demand quality come the wedding.”

“The Groom’s Dad doesn’t have to make a speech,” protested Harry.

“He does if the bride and groom say he does,” responded James. “It’s my wedding, the first in this generation of Potters, and I am your first born son and heir, and I demand speeches. Many, many speeches.”

His new fiancée rolled her eyes, but left him to it. James was quite drunk. As were many of them, it was ten past midnight on New Years Day after all.

“Go on then,” said Ron, “Give us a speech.” Ron still enjoyed mildly torturing Harry whenever the opportunity presented itself. He considered it fair play for having to accept Malfoy as part of the family.

Draco stepped away from Harry with an imperceptible pat of his bum and joined the audience.

“Oh fine!” said Harry, knowing when he was outnumbered and out-gunned. “Thank you everyone, for coming to our multi-purpose New Year’s Party. Tonight we celebrate not only a New Year, but the engagement of my eldest son James to his delightful, and infinitely more sensible fiancée, Emily. We hope to see you all again for the wedding in July.”

There was a round of hurrah’s in response to this, and James attempted to take a bow and nearly fell over.

“On his wedding day James will take possession of this very delightful house in which we all stand, although he assures me he won’t be turning his Mother and younger siblings out on the streets just yet. And speaking of houses, as some, but not all of you know, I am finally leaving my beloved cow shed and moving in with Draco.”

There was another loud cheer, loudest of all from Scorpius and Lily, but joined by all.

Harry continued, “I suppose we must also celebrate our renowned Minister of Magic, Hermione Granger, for having strong armed me into finally accepting a position on the Wizengamot. I have been assured there is minimal paperwork involved and I promise not to let anyone make me Chief Warlock.”

There was laughter, Hermione raised her glass. “To forcing Harry to get dressed and leave the house once in a while,” she shouted.

There was more laughter and an assortment of “hear hears” and “cheers to that”.

It hadn’t actually been all that hard to persuade him. He liked the idea of being part of making the wizarding world fair, without having to be a Ministry worker. The full Wizengamot was only called a handful of times a year and the rest of the time he could choose when to attend. It was a lot like the Muggle House of Lords, unsurprisingly as the latter had been modelled on the former. Except the Wizarding World had never been big enough to need a House of Commons as well, so the Wizengamot was kind of the two rolled into one with the High Court stuck onto it as well. And Draco assured him he looked fantastic in purple.

Harry tried to escape the centre of attention.

“Is that it?” complained James.

“That’s it,” said Harry. “If you want any more speeches you’ll need to pick on someone else.”

“I will make a speech!” James announced.

Harry could see Albus shaking his head in shame even as Scorpius laughed with the rest of them.

Harry happily relinquished the floor to James, and found himself next to Ginny, who was leaning against the wall holding a half full glass of champagne. She and Harry exchanged amused looks.

“As the future Head of the Potter household,” James proclaimed. “I would like to declare that there will be another New Years party in this very house next year! And every year until the very end of time! Or until I get too old to go to parties! Which will be never!!”

Amid the applause, Harry whispered, “Do you think giving him the house this young was a mistake?”

Ginny smiled. “You got it when you were fifteen, and it’s still standing.”

“I suppose. What happened to….” Harry realised he couldn’t remember the name of Ginny’s date. “Whatsisname?”

Ginny laughed. “He had another party to get too, I decided I’d rather stay at this one, where I can go to sleep whenever I like. I think perhaps it’s time I admit that twenty-six is just a bit _too_ young.”

“I liked him,” said Harry. “I liked how horrified Albus was. It was very pleasing.”

“Ha,” said Ginny. “I’ll bet it was. You and Draco are boring old news now.”

James was still talking. “As my younger brother Albus will undoubtedly be marrying Scorpius Malfoy...”

“Salazar’s balls, James! Will you shut up!” cried Albus as James deflected some sort of hex with aplomb, despite his inebriated state.

“… and becoming a Malfoy with all airs, graces and evil mansions associated...”

“Why must my entire family be so embarrassing?” Albus could be heard complaining.

“And my sister has sworn herself to the nunnery...”

“I have not!” denied Lily, afronted.

“… or something.” James continued. “I am the one true hope of the Potter name, a shining light in the darkness ready to carry on tradition and produce the next batch of Hogwarts pranksters and saviours of the Wizarding World! Of which there will be many! Many, many...”

“All right, I think that’s enough,” said Emily at last, and clapped a hand over James’s mouth, dragging him away.

There was a final round of applause and the room collapsed back into small groups of party goers and parents starting to round up younger children to be sent to bed or taken home.

Ron and Hermione found Harry shortly after Ginny had left to try and send Lily to bed. Hermione was quite sober, being entirely pregnant. She was due in about three months.

“We’re heading home now, Harry,” said Ron. “I need to put my entire family to bed, I’m afraid.”

Harry smiled and hugged and kissed Hermione.

“I said I’d never do this again, and I’m really remembering why,” she sighed. “I hate the last trimester.”

Mr and Mrs Weasley followed after, just as Draco had made his way back to him.

“Good night, Harry, Draco,” said Mrs Weasley, hugging them both. “We’ll see you both for dinner tomorrow.”

“Looking forward to it,” said Draco, shaking hands with Mr Weasley.

They had abstained from the Weasley family Christmas this year in favour of continuing some new traditions of their own, so tomorrow would be Draco’s first Weasley dinner.

As Harry looked over the room, with Draco warm against his side, he knew that things were finally exactly as they were supposed to be.


End file.
